To Touch The Sky
by The Struggling Warrior
Summary: All he ever wanted was to escape the darkness and reach out into the light. He dreamed of the opportunity to be free and untamed like the sky. When he finally gets the chance, however, the boy called a weapon will quickly find out that the decision to try to touch the sky has very devastating consequences.
1. Names

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 1: "Names"

All he had ever known was darkness. His room…cell was always filthy and lacked barely any light. He was only given enough light to make sure his vision didn't weaken. Although, considering the child's healing factor, this might not be an issue.

For most children, these circumstances would be terrifying. Children were supposed to be afraid of the dark. The darkness was what held the figures in the shadows and the truth that a child's mind couldn't even begin to comprehend.

This child was not afraid, though. No, he wasn't afraid for two reason. One, he couldn't fear something that he had known all his life. For him, it made more sense to fear the light. It was something so foreign to him that he couldn't possibly understand it. Two, he wasn't allowed to be afraid.

The masked people who took care of him didn't allow him to be afraid. Not only that, he wasn't allowed to show any form of emotion. Happiness would be scorned. Sadness would be punished. Anger would be beaten out of him.

Fortunately, that was not all that these mask wearing people taught him, though. No, they taught him so much more than that. They taught him everything. Each day was filled with lesson of words, actions, concepts, manners, and so much more. These masked people who took the name of animals drilled these concepts into him every day. His world was dedicated to learning.

Not only that, he was put through drills. He ran, punched, and kicked until he could not move his limbs. Movements called forms and katas were practiced each day. He was taught to move with a grace that no normal child could possibly possess.

Learn, train, and sleep. That was his life. Until today, that is…

No, today he was brought before a new man. This man did not wear a mask, but he was wrapped in bandages.

"…" The paled blond child with whiskers looked up to the aging scared man in front of him.

"Do you know why you're here child?" Danzo starred down at the child.

"…" The child continued to stare.

"You need to speak when your leader addresses you, child." Danzo stated.

"…No…I do not know why I am here…" The child answered simply

"You are here, because it is finally time for you to fulfill your role." Danzo explained. "Since you were born, you have been raised to be a sword. A sword that shall cut down all of Konoha's enemies."

"A sword is a weapon." The boy did what he knew. He stated facts. "It is a sharp blade used in combat. Usually for offensive purposes."

"Yes…" Danzo seemed pleased. "You are that. You are Konoha's greatest weapon."

"…" Stare. Blink. Stare.

"From today onward, I will be in charge of your training. I will sharpen you. Make you strong beyond reason." Danzo explained. "By the time I'm done with you, nothing will be able to hurt this village again."

"…And that…is my purpose…" The boy repeated. "I am a sword for the village?"

"Yes." Danzo nodded. "Tell me, child, what is your name?"

"…A name…what I am addressed by…" The boy thought for a moment. "Monster, jinchuuriki, demon, spawn, weapon, and now sword."

"I see…" Danzo stated. "From today onward, you are Kitsune."

"Kitsune…that is my name?" Kitsune questioned.

"From now on, yes." Danzo turned. "Now come. There is a lot of work to be done."

* * *

><p>One year…That was how long Kitsune had been training under Danzo. It had been grueling torture. Each day, he was pushed to his breaking point. Knowledge was crammed into his head. Drugs to enhance his body was pumped into him. Physical training pushed him to the point of passing out each day.<p>

If it were anyone other child, he could have broken long ago. Luckily, though, the Kyuubi that was sealed inside of him kept healing him. No matter how much the drugs tore apart his body or the training tore his muscles, Kitsune would be healed by merely a single night's rest.

He didn't know if it were a blessing or a curse. Each day was worse than the last. There was no end in sight. Part of him wanted to give up…

Until the day he was finally given a rest. On that day, Danzo lead him away from his dark depressing home. He was led through the base that he had lived in all his life. Then, it happened. One moment, he was standing in the dark. Then the next…

He was in the light.

It was so beautiful. Light filled the forest that they were in. The trees and leaves gleamed. The grass below them swayed in the wind. Kitsune had only read and heard about these things. This was so much different than what he heard.

This was life.

But…but what really got to Kitsune was what above them. The wide blue sky was filled with puffy white clouds. The sun shone brightly. It was so vast and wide. It was like… freedom. Even as Kitsune continued to follow Danzo through the forest, he continued to observe the sky. It was enamoring.

After a while, Danzo stopped. Kitsune stood behind Danzo and waited. The old shinobi looked at the young blond and spoke. "Kitsune, we are now standing above the Hokage Monument. Here, all four of the Hokages have been carved into stone."

"I know, Danzo-sama." Kitsune nodded as he looked up at his instructor. "I have been instructed about it many times before."

"Yes, but there is a difference between that, and the actual view." Danzo stepped to side and pointed behind him. "This is the great village of Konohagakure."

Kitsune peered down at the bustling village. The buildings stood tall. The people were moving all around. It was such a different sight then everything that Kitsune was used to. The people he usually saw were silent and dark. This was loud and bright.

But…but that wasn't what interested him right now. No, right now, he was still thinking about the sky. The beautiful sky that spoke of freedom consumed his thoughts right now. While the city below him was beautiful in its own right, it still represented containment, walls, cages, and everything that had ever restricted him.

To Kitsune, the feeling of freedom was so much more…invigorating.

"This is what your goal is." Danzo instructed. "This is what you are meant to protect. These people. Those buildings. This village. It is your only duty as a shinobi. You will protect this with your dying breath."

"Yes, Danzo-sama." Kitsune said dutifully. Nevertheless, he didn't agree. While he had been raised and trained for the sole purpose of protecting Konoha, that was not what he wanted. No, Kitsune now had a different inspiration. Something that would push him as he went back into the darkness and was pushed to his breaking point.

He want to see that sky again. He wanted the feeling that it gave him. He wanted to be free.

* * *

><p>After his first view of the village and the sky, Kitsune was pushed to train his chakra. He trained to unlock the power inside of him. Each day he learned how to control the vast quantities of energy that was coursing through his veins.<p>

Most of the ninjustu he learned was too difficult for the young boy to do. The only ninjustu that Kitsune could successfully do at first was the Kage Bushin. It was a clone technique that made physical copies of the user. Because Kitsune had so much chakra and the technique required only on hand motion, it was easy for the boy.

While it was not exactly what Danzo wanted, the old man was pleased. This technique allowed Kitsune to learn at an incredibly high rate. When a clone was dispelled, its memories returned to Kitsune. To many, this would seem like a perfect way to learn chakra control, techniques, and hand seals while at still training his real body.

That is, until the mental backlash took its toll. Many nights Kitsune went to sleep with a terrible migraine. None more so than tonight. Danzo had put him through the ringer, and Kitsune had passed out as soon as he returned to his dark room/cell.

This night was different, though. As soon as he fell asleep, Kitsune woke up. Only, it was in his head…

Kitsune now stood in a sewer. There was water up to the boy's knees. Pipes lined the wide walls. That wasn't what drew Kitsune's attention, though. What really drew his attention was the massive cage. It stood as high as the Hokage Monument. Kitsune was sure that he could easily walk in between the massive red bars. But he doubted this cage was for something as small as him…

"**Oh? My flesh bag of a container finally comes to greet me after all these years…**" A dark chuckle echoed from behind the bars. "**Why don't you step closer?**"

"Because I'm not completely stupid." Kitsune stayed where he was. "You would kill me, Kyūbi."

"**HAHAHAHAHAHA!**" A giant fox with nine tails and orange red fur appeared behind the bars. "**So you aren't a complete fool. Then you will know that it would be smart to release me now. If you do so now, I will make your death painless.**"

"I would prefer to live a little bit longer." Kitsune stared up at the demon.

"**Then when I'm freed, I'll make sure your death is as slow and painful as possible.**" The Kyūbi no Yoko growled.

"I'll look forward to it." Kitsune noted.

"**Hmm…You're a cocky little shit, aren't ya?**" Kyūbi noted.

"I don't believe so." Kitsune stated. "If you do escape, then I don't have any doubt that you would kill me painfully. It's more of a fact than anything else."

"…**You are a strange human, brat. No fear, even the face of an all-powerful demon.**" Kyūbi's red eyes glared down at the boy.

"…You're the first person to refer to me as a human." Kitsune noted. "It's…nice…"

The Kyūbi rolled his eyes and laid down his head on his human-like paws. "**Nice? I ain't nice, kid. You're bag of bones and water. A human. Something that needs to be exterminated.**"

"Possibly." Kitsune admitted. "My experiences with humans haven't been great, but I've heard that there are upsides. And to be referred to as one…It's relieving."

"**Don't be proud of being a vermin. It's disgusting.**" Kyuubi snorted. "**What do you want, ningen? If you aren't here to free me, then I don't want you around.**"

"I do not know how I even got here, although Danzo-sama might be happy…" Kitsune mentioned. "But I think that I'll be forced to be here until I wake up. Until my body and mind heals."

"**UNGRATEFUL BRAT!**" Kyūbi roared. "**It is I that heals you, don't act like its natural. You may be a tougher than average human, but you are still weak! If it were not for me, you would have died long ago from all the crap that they have been pumping into you…**"

"…" Kitsune paused for a moment. "Thank you."

"…**What?**"

"Thank you for saving my life so many times." Kitsune repeated. "I don't particularly want to die, and you are correct. If you were not sealed inside of me, then I would not be alive now."

"**You act like you have something to live for.**" Kyūbi grunted. "**From what I've seen, you have no purpose or joy in life. Each day is one filled with pain and suffering. I'm healing you for my own purposes, not for you. But I am surprised that you haven't just given up yet.**"

"Shinobi endure." Kitsune responded. "I am a shinobi, so I endure."

"**Endure your pitiful existence?**" Kyūbi seemed amused. "**Why? For the sake of your village?**"

"No, because I want to be free." Kitsune responded. "I want to be like the sky. Untouchable and uncontained."

"**That is a funny thing for my jailer to say.**" Kyūbi glared. "**To speak of freedom while containing someone else.**"

"…Fair point…" Kitsune nodded. "Then I shall find a way to set you free too. That way we both can be free."

"**Foolish human. If I'm freed, then you die.**" Kyūbi laughed. "**It's part of being a jinchūriki.**"

"I will find a way. For my comrade and friend, I will find a way." Kitsune argued.

"**COMRADE?! FRIEND?!**" Kyūbi roared. "**I should kill you for saying such things! No human is a friend of mine, just because I keep you alive doesn't mean we're friends!**"

"But it's the closest thing I know to friendship." Kitsune argued. "You call me human and treat me like one. It's more than I can say for anyone else, Kyūbi-san."

"**Arg…Your presence annoys me…**" Kyūbi groaned.

"I apologize, Kyūbi-san" Kitsune obviously didn't feel apologetic.

"**Tsk…**" Kyūbi laid he head on his front hand-like paws. "**You're a strange human, I'll give you that brat. None of my other containers acted like you.**"

"You had containers before me?" Kitsune found himself intrigued. "Will you tell me more?"

"**And why would I want to do that?**"

"Because if you don't, I'll just annoy you about it until you give in." Kitsune answered. "If you just tell me now, you'll save time and prevent a huge headache."

"…"

"…Should I start annoying you now?"

"…**Fine!**" Kyūbi roared. "**I'll tell you, annoying brat! But I won't do it a second time, so you better pay attention!**"

"Thank you, Kyūbi-san."

* * *

><p>After that night, Kitsune had continued to speak with the Kyūbi at night. After he spent the whole day training, he would journey into his mind and talk with the demon sealed in him. It took some coaxing, but slowly, Kitsune got the giant fox to open up somewhat.<p>

They spoke of many things. A typical topic was humanity's role in the world. A rarer topic was the Kyūbi's vast history. Now those were informative conversations. Kitsune doubted even some of the smartest people in the world knew some of the facts that Kyūbi shared after a little prodding. Who knew that there was once a beast called the Jūbi and that the Sage of the Six Paths was real.

There was one conversation that meant most to the young shinobi, however…

"My real name is Naruto?" Kitsune asked.

Kyūbi rolled his eyes. "**What? You really thought your name was Kitsune? How stupid are you?**"

"I never thought that…But I never knew…" Kitsune…Naruto paused. "Who would name their child fiskcake?"

Kyubi snorted. "**That's Kushina for you. She's a weird one…**"

"Kushina was your previous container…" Naruto realized. "And…my mother?"

"**Yep.**"

"And her surname was…Uzumaki."

"**Yep.**"

"So my name is…Uzumaki Naruto…" Naruto's expression seemed to brighten up. "And I wasn't abandoned. My parents…They loved me…right?"

"**I guess. They seemed pretty protective of you went I stabbed them with one of my tails.**" The Kyūbi smiled cruelly.

Naruto stared at the Kyūbi for a moment. "I see…Tell me…what exactly happened to them?"

"**And why the hell would I tell you that?**"

"Because you have nothing better to do." Naruto answered.

"…"

"…"

"**Damn, gaki, I may hate you, but you make some excellent arguments.**" Kyūbi sighed. "**Alright, it happened like this. Some masked wanna be Madara attacked right after you were born…**"

* * *

><p>Years began to pass. Many interesting things happened to Naruto as he continued his training and began to take missions. Most missions involved violently killing people. It wasn't like Naruto cared about killing people. He was told that killing Konoha's enemies was a good thing. The sight of a corpse never bothered Naruto.<p>

There were limits, however.

One of Naruto's first missions involved merely watching and observing from the shadows. This was a rather simple task for a boy that was trained his entire life in the art of stealth. Watching what happened was the difficult part.

The Uchiha Massacre. Danzo had tasked Naruto/Kitsune with the task of observing Itachi as he worked and to make sure that everything went well. So, Naruto watched, and he instantly regretted it. There were…so many bodies. Men, women, and children were all killed. No one was spared…

Except for Itachi's brother. Uchiha Sasuke was allowed to live. Itachi instructed Sasuke to live on and to hate Itachi. Naruto instantly thought that was odd considering that everything Naruto was taught told Naruto that emotions were useless. How could hate give anyone power?

Considering who helped Itachi, however, Naruto could kind of understand. That man…the fake Madara according to the Kyūbi…assisted Itachi in his endeavor. Naruto couldn't even begin to understand the ping in his chest. Was it sadness? Anger? Hate? Naruto didn't know, but it was something.

But Naruto did know that these emotions were the weakness of shinobi. Hating a man that killed his parents wouldn't help Naruto in the slightest. So, he let whatever he felt go. There was nothing he could do about his parents now anyway…

"**How could you let go of your anger so easily?**" Kyūbi asked after everything was done.

'My anger will only hold me back.' Naruto answered mentally answered. 'Like all emotions, anger is a weakness. I will not let myself be held back by such weaknesses…'

"…**You know what, gaki? I think I'm beginning to like you.**"

* * *

><p>Another mission that really stood out in Naruto's mind. Well, actually, the simple assassination mission did not stand out at all. It was more of what happened after the mission that Naruto really remembered. After all, it wasn't all the time that one of the Sanin defeated you by trapping you under a toad.<p>

"…" Naruto didn't make a sound. Despite his humiliating defeat and the many bruises and cuts from the short and completely one-sided battle, Naruto still ignored the pain. He had felt far worse.

"I'm surprised. Not many ten year olds can give me that much trouble." The unscathed Jiraiya noted with a smile. The large man with long white spiky hair seemed impressed even if Naruto never stood a chance.

"I'm not a normal child…" Kitsune answered.

"Meh…" Jiraiya ripped off Naruto's fox mask. "Let's get that off. I hate talking to people wearing these."

"What do you want? Are you here to kill me?" Naruto questioned as he looked up at the toad sage.

"What? Naw. Man...Danzo must have really messed with your head, brat." Jiraiya noted. "I just wanted to talk."

"And we couldn't do that in Konoha instead of you ambushing me in a forest?" Naruto questioned.

"You and I both know that Danzo would never let that fly." Jiraiya answered as he sat down next to Naruto's head. The boy was still trapped under the large toad and wouldn't be moving any time soon.

"…Yes, Danzo-sama would probably disapprove of my involvement with you unless it involved training…" Naruto stated.

"Training…That's all he has you do." Jiraiya frowned. "I've heard about everything you've gone through. That type of treatment…the hardcore training, the body enhancing drugs, the missions that would cause even hardened shinobi to crack…No person should go through that. Especially a child."

"I am Kanoha's sword." Naruto answered. "My suffering will bring happiness and safety to the entire village. Mathmatically, what Danzo-sama has done is correct. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of one simple child."

"Do the ends justify the means?" Jiraiya retorted. "I've done some pretty shitty stuff in my lifetime, but I have never abused a child like this. Hell, I don't think most shinobi villages, except maybe Kiri, has put a child through what you went through."

"Can you argue with the results?" Naruto responded. "A ten year old was able to fight off a Sanin for a short time."

"Kid, I was holding back. A lot. But…yes, you are very impressive." Jiraiya nodded. "Most Chunin would have troubles with you, I'll give you that. Your taijustu and ninjustu are incredibly impressive, and I don't think that genjustu will work on you too."

'That's thanks to the Kyūbi…' Naruto thought.

"But…" Jiraiya frowned. "To let this happen to a child…It shows just how bad our world is when the government allows this."

"I…have seen and heard what the other jinchūriki are like." Naruto argued. "They are either insane or monstrous. I would have suffered the same fate if it was not for Danzo-sama."

"You really don't hate Danzo?"

"…I may have went through pure hell, but I would prefere this hell compared to the hell of complete isolation that would have occurred otherwise." Naruto mentioned. "At least now I'm strong."

"Kami…He's brainwashed you good…" Jiraiya muttered.

"What do you want, Jiraiya-sama?" Naruto asked. "If you don't want to kill me, then you must want something else."

"Yeah, I wanted to offer you another option, but it appears…that it might already be too late for you…" Jiraiya mumbled.

"Then this has nothing to do with the fact that you're my godfather?" Naruto questioned.

"What?! How did you…"

"Danzo-sama told me the truth about everything (although I already knew about my parents). He didn't want me to abandon Konoha because I felt betrayed, so he told me the whole truth upfront." Naruto explained. "I know everything. How my parents died in the Kyubi attack. How he was sealed into me. How you abandoned me to go peep on women, and how the Hokage was forced to give me to him to appease the masses and the council."

"I…see…"

"Say what you want, but Danzo-sama has never lied to me."

"Yeah, he just deluded you with his version of the truth!" Jiraiya argued. "I have an information network to keep up. If that fails, then Konoha will be in danger."

"Then you sacrificed me for the good of the village as well. How are you different from Danzo-sama in that regard?"

Jiraya was silent.

"I thought so." Naruto closed his eyes. "Now will you please let me go? I need to meet my squad soon, and they will come looking if I'm late."

"Alright, gaki…" Jiraiya released Naruto. "I guess there's nothing I can do that will convince you to be my apprentice now…"

"No." Naruto looked up to the sky. "That would merely be trading one pair of shackles for another. I want more…"

"What do you mean?"

"It means that while I don't hate Danzo-sama, I have no love for him either." Naruto responded. "If he would die tomorrow, I would feel nothing."

"I see…"

"But that does not mean that I will ever travel with you." Naruto stated. "You made your choice ten years ago. You decided that you want nothing to do with me, so I am deciding to do the same with you."

"I thought so…" The toad sage sighed.

"But…I would like to make a request. From godson to godfather…"

"What is it?"

"I…would be pleased to have a picture of my parents." Naruto mentioned as he stood. Despite his view of emotions as a weakness, Naruto still liked to think about his parents. Part of him wondered what his life would have been like if they lived…

No. He couldn't live in what could have been. Still…he wanted a picture. It would be proof that at least someone had cared for him at some point in his life.

"Okay…I can do that…"

* * *

><p>"<strong>Why didn't your accept the old man's offer?<strong>" Kyūbi questioned after Naruto fell asleep that night.

"Because he merely gave the illusion of freedom." Naruto answered up to the large beast. "I would still be chained to Konoha. If I traveled with him, I would be only fooling myself into thinking that I was free. I would rather live in truth than hold onto an illusion."

"**And his abandoning of you didn't influence your decision?**" Kyūbi questioned.

"…Possibly." Naruto answered. "As I said, he already had his chance for me to travel with him. But I am sincere about what I said. I refuse to be deluded from the truth."

"**Most humans would gladly live a lie if it makes them happy.**" The giant fox answered.

"Well, I'm not most humans." Naruto responded.

"**Once again, excellent argument…**" The Kyūbi chuckled.

"Thank you, Kyūbi…" Naruto paused. "You know, you never told me you're real name. You once mentioned that 'Kyūbi' is merely a title, yet you refused to give me your name."

"**As if a worthless human is worthy of knowing my name!**" Kyūbi rolled his eyes.

"Then I will have to prove my worth." Naruto mentioned nonchalantly. "Perhaps when I figure out how to free you without killing me, then you will tell me your name."

"**Bah, I don't even care anymore.**" Kyubi looked away. "**If you release me, then the humans will just keep hounding me and trying to seal me up in a less amusing human. I'm fine with staying with you for now. Besides, you'd die if you didn't have me around to save your ass.**"

"So you do care about me…" Naruto gave the smallest of smiles.

"**Shut up! The only reason I tolerate you is because you amuse me! There's no other reason!**"

"I care about you as well, Kyubi-san" Naruto nodded at the beast.

"**...Kurama.**" The Kyubi spoke again. "**My name is Kurama, and don't add the stupid san thing. I hate hearing that from you.**"

"I see…" Naruto closed his eyes contently. "It's nice to meet you, Kurama."

* * *

><p>There was one more mission that stood out. It was different from everything Naruto had ever experienced. He couldn't really explain it, but…it changed his short life.<p>

Because it was his last mission as a Konoha shinobi…

"Hello." A woman's voice spoke to Naruto as he moved through the street of a harbor village. The voice was chilling. It felt like a cool breeze had washed over him.

The boy in ANBU armor paused on his trek to the meeting place of his squad. He turned to see a beautiful woman sitting on a chair in front of a store. The woman had long light blue hair that feel down to her back like silk. Her face was that of an angel. The woman's skin was flawless, her lips were full and pouty, and her cold blue eyes bore into him.

"…Do…I know you?" Naruto questioned.

"No, not yet, although I probably do seem familiar. I know you for sure, though, Naruto-kun." The woman smiled. Her beautiful dark blue dress hugged her curves and showed a figure that most woman would kill for. Some part of Naruto had to question why no one was paying attention to her. Most men would be drooling over this gorgeous woman.

Naruto froze. "How do you know my name?"

"I know a lot of things, Naruto-kun." The woman smiled. "I know about you, and your deepest desire."

"My desire?"

"Yes, you want freedom." The woman's eyes seemed to light up a little. "The shackles of your village fill you with disgust. That's why you stare at the sky. You wish to reach for the sky and be one with it. You want to have complete freedom."

"How…"

"Why, you told me, Naruto-kun." The woman gestured for him to come closer. Naruto couldn't resist moving to the beautiful woman. "Each silent prayer and unspoken dream told me of your deepest desire. I heard it all, and I found it all to be so…beautiful."

"I…"

"I have never heard someone speak with such passion about the sky. I have never heard anyone want to be one with the sky like you. I have never been so moved by the words of a man…" The woman extended her arm and caressed his cheeks.

"I don't understand."

"Of course you don't." The woman laughed gently. "I'm sorry I haven't explained anything. You see, my name is Azura, and I want to make you an offer."

Naruto stared at the beautiful woman. He suddenly realized where he saw her…or at least he realized how this woman made him feel. It felt like freedom. "What…what is it?"

"I want you to be my chosen." Azura smiled gently. "You have a cold exterior, but a hidden passion so great that it could burn the sun. You have an affinity to the wind that no one else could possibly understand. You're perfect for this. No one else is worthy to be my equal."

"Your chosen?" Naruto asked in a small whisper.

"Yes!" The taller woman knelt down to Naruto's height. "You will be my chosen. You have the freedom you always wished for. You will have a power that no one else could possibly touch. Not even my southern brother's chosen will be able to compete with your potential. All you have to do is accept."

"…There's a catch, isn't there?" Naruto inquired.

"I love your perception, Naruto-kun." Azura chuckled lightly. "Yes, there will be responsibilities to being a chosen. Don't worry, though. They won't ever compromise your future morals, and you will never have to hurt someone you care about. Unfortunately, I can't tell you anything more, because I'm pressing the rules as it is."

"And…if I refuse this offer?" Naruto asked.

"Then you will be stuck. You will never obtain what you want most. Absolute freedom will never be obtainable. Happiness will be a fleeting dream. The sky will forever be out of your reach." Azura stated with a sad look.

"I…" Naruto gave the woman a long stare. He decided. "For some reason, I believe you."

"I'm so glad, Naruto-kun." Azura's eyes lit up as she stood up. "But I know that this is a hard choice. I will give you ten days. I will remain here in front of this store. If you show up, then I shall take you to your new home. Although…I doubt that the others will be pleased with the return of what you contain, but I'm sure they'll get over it after they see you in action."

"And…my new home will be…"

"Earthland." Azura smiled.

"Earthland…" Naruto whispered.

"Yes, and there, you will have everything you ever wanted. Freedom. Family. Hope." Azura gestured to the sky above them. "Because I will give you the power that will secure all of these."

"And that is?" Naruto's voice was barely audible, but she still heard it.

"_The power to slay gods._"

* * *

><p><em>Oh, beautiful heavens don't taunt me so<em>

_With the freedom and power that you do show_

_One day calm, and the next full of fury_

_Your greatness awes me in a hurry_

_Please accept this humble life_

_That you may calm your terrible strife_

_And if this ends your tearful cry_

_Give me the strength to touch the sky_

* * *

><p><strong>This is a pet project I've had on my mind for a while. With Naruto completed, I feel that it is more possible to pull off.<strong>

**Thank you all for reading and please remember to…**

**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW**


	2. New World

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 2: "New World"

When not on a mission, Naruto was restricted to the inside of Danzo's base. After all, he was a weapon to them. When the battle was finished, the fighter would sheath the sword. Naruto was no exception. Jinchūriki were weapons of mass destruction that needed to be contained. So, during his free time, Naruto was always restricted to being inside and was always under constant watch.

As such, he was never allowed to see the sky unless he was on a mission. That was why the jinchūriki was always ready to be sent of missions. The only time the ten year old truly felt alive was when he was on missions that usually involved killing, because that was the only time that he felt even a little free. Thus, he had forced himself to harden his heart on the concept of taking another human life. He took no joy in the act, but it was necessary for his life, and it was the only time he could even get a glimpse at freedom.

Now, though, he had received an offer that would give him the chance of freedom that he always wanted. That woman Azura was offering Naruto the chance to escape the shackles of this world and move on to another one. It sounded too good to be true…Perhaps it was. He sure as hell hoped that that this offer didn't involve him dying.

'What do you think, Kurama?' Naruto questioned mentally as he meditated in his cell like room.

"**I really don't know what to think, Kit.**" Kurama's voice boomed in his head. "**I always thought that Earthland was just a story that the old man told to us.**"

'The Sage of the Six Paths? What did he say?' Naruto questioned.

'**Truthfully, I don't remember much. I just remember him mentioning something about the true origins or something like that.**' Kurama stated. '**There is something I remember, though. He didn't go into much detail, but he noted that we all need to avoid someone named Zeref. The old man said that Zeref's power was beyond our comprehension.**'

'Beyond your comprehension? But didn't you say that you came from the Jūbi, a being that has the combined strength of all the Bijū?' Naruto questioned.

'**Yes, but I tend to believe the old man**.' Kurama retorted. '**Of course, he also rambled on about Zeref being the Mage of Death and to beware the Rabbit Queen, so…He might have been senile.**'

'Mage of Death and the Rabbit Queen…' Naruto repeated. 'Perhaps he was, but who know what might be in another world…if it exists.'

'**You doubt the woman?**'

'I doubt the logic of it. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but…I still believe her for some reason.' Naruto explained.

'**I sensed no ill intent from her if that helps.**' Kurama put in his input.

'…What do you think I should do then?' Naruto questioned. 'After all, this affects you just as much as it does me…'

'**I'm stuck with you either way. But I have no love for your stupid village.**' Kurama snorted.

'So you would take the offer? What if it isn't true?'

'**Like I said, I didn't sense it as being a lie, and I sensed incredible power from her. She's definitely not a normal human.**' Kurama explained.

'I see…' Naruto frowned. 'Then the only thing left to decide what I want…'

'**But you already know that.**'

'That I do…then the choice is easy.'

* * *

><p>"Danzo-sama…You called for me?" Naruto knelt before his master.<p>

"Yes, I need you to prep for your next mission." Danzo stated. "There has been trouble with the border in Iwa. I need you to investigate."

"I shall prepare at once." Naruto stated respectfully.

"Good…" Danzo nodded.

"…Am I dismissed, sir?" Naruto questioned from his position. He had received his orders, yet his master did not give him permission to leave yet.

"No…not yet." Danzo answered. "Kitsune, there's something we need to discuss."

For the briefest of moments, Naruto thought that Danzo knew about his plan. This thought was quickly dismissed, though. The only way to do that was to read his mind, and Naruto knew that Kurama would protect his mind and inform him if anyone tried to intrude. So, the boy kept his cool and stated, "Yes, Danzo-sama."

"Peace…Is a fool's dream." Danzo noted. "It is merely the time to prepare for the next war, and time for people to soften while thinking that they are safe. That is why Ne is necessary. We are the roots that support the village in the dark. Without us, the soft leaves will all fall and die."

"I know, Danzo-sama." Kitsune stated dutifully. In truth, he didn't really care what the scared man was saying.

"We need to prepare for the next war. We need to be ready for anything. That is why you need to learn how to use the Kyūbi's chakra." Danzo stated. "As soon as you return, we will begin your training in using its chakra. And when you master it, we will be able to obliterate all of our enemies."

'**Not likely! Hahahahahaha!**' Kurama laughed in his head.

"Yes, Danzo-sama." Naruto stated.

"Good. You are dismissed, Kitsune. I will see you when you get back." Danzo ordered expectantly.

'**No you won't…**' Kurama took a great deal of glee in mocking the war hawk.

Silently, Naruto moved away from his soon to be ex-leader. It was time. This was the chance he was waiting for. Once he was on the mission, he would replace himself with a Kage Bunshin and disappear without anyone noticing.

'**The war hawk was right about one thing, though. You can start training with my chakra if you want…**' Kurama mentioned. '**It might help you later.**'

'I refuse to become reliant on your power.' Naruto spoke to his friend and partner. 'I am already your jailer. I don't think it's fair to use your power for nothing in return. Besides, didn't you mention that your chakra would hurt me as long as I hold darkness in my heart?'

'**So you listened, eh? It's true, even if I lend you my chakra willingly and without trying to take you over, my chakra would still hurt you because of the anger and hatred you hide in your heart. It shouldn't affect you too much with a small bit of chakra, though…**' Kurama sighed.

Knowing that he couldn't hide his inner feelings from his closest friend, Naruto nodded solemnly. 'And as long as I don't deal with my darkness, I won't be able to use your chakra properly. Thus, it's pointless to try.'

'…**So, will you try to fight your dark self?**'

'No. Not now at least. I have enough to worry about right now. Thinking about defeating myself will become counterproductive. Perhaps when I'm older and stronger, I'll think about it.'

* * *

><p>Like the Ne member planned, escape was easy. One quick clone and substitution was all it took. Naruto knew it wouldn't last forever, though. Soon, the clone would run out of chakra and disappear. After that happened, his squad members would either immediately come looking for him or report to Danzo. Neither of those things were ideal, but by then, he should be gone, so it was fine.<p>

"You came!" Azura clapped her hands together in glee.

"I did…" Naruto bowed before the woman. "Please, take me to Earthland. Please, give me the power you spoke of."

"Oh, you…" Azura giggled. "Stand, my chosen. I don't need to bow before me."

"Forgive me, Azura-sama." Naruto stood.

The woman giggled again. "No need to be so formal! Call me Azura-chan."

"…Okay, Azura-chan." Naruto nodded.

"Excellent!"Azura gave him a beautiful smile. "Now come. It's time to go."

The stunning woman led the young shinobi into the store behind her. Except, it wasn't a store. The building was completely empty except for the strange symbols and seals on the floor, walls, and ceiling.

"What is this?" Naruto questioned and looked around the room.

"There is a bit of a complication while transporting you to a new world." Azura explained as she stepped into the center of the room. "It has to do with what you contain."

"Who…who I contain. His name is Kurama." Naruto argued.

"Of course." She smiled.

"But…what does he have to do with anything?" Naruto questioned.

"He is one of nine." Azura began. "Nine pieces of ten that are connected. They cannot be separated by world barriers. If they are, the barrier will begin to degrade. Thus, they must all remain on one side of the barrier in order to prevent the worlds from collapsing into each other."

"That sounds complicated." Naruto was lost.

"It is." Azura chuckled. "I'll just say this. If the nine Bijū are separated in different worlds, bad things will happen. As such, I will need to transfer all of you to Earthland. Luckily, all I need is one piece to move all of you."

"Wait…all the jinchūriki will be send to the new world?" Naruto's eyes widened.

'**That could end badly.**' Kurama mentioned from the boy's mind. '**If this new world may be thrown into chaos under the new power of the jinchūriki…**'

"Yes, all of you must be moved." Azura nodded. "But it's not like most of you don't desire the possibility for a new start."

"True, but…"

"Besides, I have discussed it with my remaining siblings." Azura smiled. "They agreed that this may be for the best. I may very well prevent the resurrection of her…"

"Excuse me?" Naruto questioned.

"Never mind." Azura shook her head. "Just talking to myself."

"…Is there no way for just me to go?" Naruto questioned.

"No. Kurama cannot be removed from you without killing you, and the barrier cannot hold if only you are sent." Azura sighed. "This is the only way. This the risk and price you must take to be free."

"…This world will be thrown into chaos." Naruto mentioned. "The threat of the jinchūriki running wild is one of the reasons that the villages have tried to avoid war. If they all disappear…everyone will panic and accuse eacho ther of stealing them. Another Great Shinobi War may very well start."

"That is very likely." Azura shrugged. "Like I said, though, that is the price for freedom."

"…Okay." Naruto sighed. "If this is how it must be, then so be it. Let's do this."

"Good. Step into that circle." Azura pointed to the circle that had the kanji for nine in it.

'**Kit…are you sure about this?**' Kurama questioned. '**This is a very selfish choice. You are forsaking an entire planet for you own needs. Can you live with that?**'

'Yes. I do not care for this world or the people in it.' Naruto stated mentally. 'I have already made my choice. I will do anything for my freedom. Besides, war was going to happen anyway. This may very well limit the casualties overall.'

'**That's a slippery slope argument.**' Kurama noted. '**It may very well end terribly for all that's involved.**'

'…Perhaps I would care more if I was ever taught to love and to care for others.' Naruto stepped into the circle. 'But that's not who I am. I was raised to be a weapon, and I refuse to be that anymore. From now on, I am not a shinobi…I am what Azura calls me. I am a god slayer.'

'…**I understand.**' With that, Kurama was silent.

"Are you ready?" Azura questioned.

"Yes." Naruto nodded.

"Very well." Azura then began to perform the ceremony. "A few more things you should know. This new world uses magic. Luckily, all shinobi can use magic if trained to do so. It's a genetic trait. I shall place you in a location where you can be trained properly in the art of the sky. So don't move too far away until you find your new teacher."

"I understand."

"Also…as a god slayer, you will be tasked with slaying those who call themselves gods." Azura noted. "I cannot tell you who your enemy is, but you will find out soon enough. Your enemy shall make himself known to you."

"…Okay." Naruto took a deep breath.

"And finally, I will not be able to contact you for a long time so…" Azura smiled. "Stay safe, my chosen."

"I will." Naruto nodded as he was consumed in a blast of white light.

That day, nine people disappeared without a trace. Nine very important weapons vanished from their homes. Every village that contained those weapons all went into a panic as their jinchūriki faded away in a blur of light. Panic spread throughout the world as the most powerful being in the world were taken away.

No one knew what happened, but everyone began to point fingers at each other. Angry words and fearful accusations were thrown around. Tensions grew to a boiling point. People began to attack each other.

Thus, the Fourth Great Shinobi War began…

* * *

><p>"Mother…" Gaara grabbed his head and groaned as he appeared in the middle of the desert. "Gah…"<p>

Something was wrong. One moment, the red haired and blue-green eyes with dark rings around them was sitting on the roof of his house, it was most definitely not a home. The next moment, he was in the middle of the desert. For a second, the boy with a red scar on his forehead thought he fell asleep, and his mother took over. That wasn't it, though. It couldn't be. He didn't wake up in a crater surrounded by his father's golden sand.

Not only that…the air was different. It was more…rich. He could taste it. There was something something new…something powerful.

"Gah…" Gaara glared around him. He knew the deserts around his village like the back of his hand. This was most certainly not the deserts around his village.

Looking around at the vast empty spaces of nothingness, Gaara realized that he was alone. No…he was always alone emotionally and mentally, but now he was physically alone. Oh well, not like there was a big difference.

Still…with no one around, there was no one to kill. He couldn't prove his own existence without any people to kill.

'No…there are people…' Gaara looked and saw what appeared to be a caravan traveling through the desert.

'**Go…go to them. Kill them. Prove that your existence is greater than theirs…**' The voice of Mother spoke to Gaara.

"Yes…" A bloodthirsty grin appeared on Gaara's face as the sand moved around them. "I will kill them…I will kill them all…"

* * *

><p>Yugito Nii was at a complete loss. Merely a few seconds ago, she was sleeping peacefully in her bed. Now, she stood in front of a hot spring. The warm inviting water was calling to her.<p>

'Is this a dream?' The woman with blond hair pulled into a braid questioned. She thought about contacting her Bijū, but decided against it. The cat hated water anyway, so she would say anything to avoid having her container in it.

The fair skinned woman looked around and noticed that the woman in the springs were looking at her oddly. Yugito could imagine why. She was the only one wearing clothes, and they were pajamas to top it off.

Pinching herself, Yugito realized that this wasn't a dream. She was just teleported. Was this because of the enemy? But why would an enemy would teleport her here?

Because of her demon, Yugito always had a good sense of potential danger. There was none around here. She was completely safe for now. So what happened?

"Oi! Brat! Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to jump in! Do it, or I'll make you spin!" An old woman with her grey hair pulled up into a large bun yelled as she twirled her fingers.

"Er…" Yugito blinked. Nodding, she began to remover he clothes. For some odd reason, she felt the need to obey the strange old woman. "Okay…"

* * *

><p>"What the hell happened…" Yagura questioned as he stood on the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean. He didn't remember…anything. Everything that occurred in the last couple of years were a complete blur.<p>

No, he remembered…a man in a mask with a single red eye. The Sharingan…it controlled him. He committed atrocities and started a civil war because of that man. "Damn the Uchiha…"

The man with grey hair and pink eyes knew that he would have to deal with that later, though. First, he had to figure out where he was. He did not recognize any of the landmarks around him. The man who looked more like a boy needed to find a map or something.

"Hey, little boy! Be careful while standing by the cliff! You might fall off!"

"Who are you calling a little boy! I am a fully grown man! I have armpit hair and everything!" Yagura ranted while scratching the scar below his right eye.

"Yeah, yeah…Whatever you say, kid…" The woman that was talking to him had short black hair, was wearing a large trench coat that hid most of her body, and was extremely tall. "I'd believe it when I see it. How old are you really? Ten?"

"You picking a fight, girl?" Yagura growled as the water below the cliff began to churn and swish around.

"Maaaaaaaaaaaaaybe." The woman grinned. The earth below them began to bleed black and began to rumble. "Only if you can give me a good time, though, gaki."

* * *

><p>"All hail the Rabbit Queen! All hail the Rabbit Queen! All hail the Rabbit Queen!"<p>

"…Yo, what's going on?" The aging man with red hair pulled back into a pony tail asked.

"We're worshiping the mighty Rabbit !ueen!" One of weirdos wearing golden robes shouted.

"Oh? And who's the Rabbit Queen?" Roshi questioned and stroked his beard.

"Our god!"

"Your god…" Roshi looked around at the various people bowing before the alter at the center of the church. "Would you be willing to tell me more?"

"Of course! We always welcome new members to the church!" The girl stood and smiled at the man. She had extremely cute and innocent features.

'W-wow!' Roshi grinned.

"Come…" The girl gestured for him to follow her. She led into the court yard. "This is the church of the Rabbit Queen. It has existed for hundreds of years. We promote the principles of respecting your parents and following the rules above all else. That's why the Magic Council has always been kind to us."

"Magic Council?" Roshi mumbled under his breath.

"Yes!" The girl with mousy brown hair smiled. "They even ask us to train some of their speacilized mage troops too. All members of the church can use magic! None of us, though, are as strong as the High Priestess. She's a god slayer, after all."

"God slayer?" Roshi blinked. "Those exist?"

"Of course! What other kind of person can communicate with gods." The girl nodded. "In fact, the High Priestess says that as long as we obey her and the commands of the church, we will all prosper when the Rabbit Queen returns."

* * *

><p>Steam colleted around the armored fist as Han punched the last man standing before him. The force of the blow caused the thug to be sent through the wall of the bar and into the road that led to the building.<p>

Han had found this building shortly after teleporting. It was rather run down and broken, but it had people in it. Each person had the same odd tattoo, though. It confused Han. Was the symbol like the one on his headband? He didn't recognize the symbol, though. What village were they from?

The giant of a man who was covered completely in red and black armor decided to find out. He walked into the building and was immediately attacked. The attackers were as weak as flies. One blow, and they were out.

Then, the rest of the flies attacked. The masked Han made quick work over all of them. It was easy. The bad thing was that now he couldn't ask them any questions…

Wait, there was still one weakling that was conscious. He was hiding in the corner. The thin man with rat like features looked like he was about to cry.

"You…" Han walked to the crying man. "Answer my questions."

"A-anything you want." The sniveling man whimpered.

"Where am I?" Han questioned as he reached down and grabbed the man by the collar.

"Y-you're a-at the b-base of the dark guild Purple Skunk." The rat man cried as he was lifted up into the air.

"Guild? Purple Skunk?" Han didn't know if he should be confused or amused.

"Y-yes!"

"Whatever, we'll get to that later." Han grunted. "What country are we in?"

"F-Fiore!"

"Fiore?" Where was Fiore? Han had never heard of it before. Was it close to Iwa?

* * *

><p>"Get up, worm! It's time to work!" One of the men wearing dark robes laughed as he mocked the prisoner.<p>

"Meh…I don't feel like it." Utakata shrugged. His long brown hair fell over the left side of his face and hid his brown eyes. The boy also wore a light blue kimono with bubbles on the side.

"What!" The other one of the men wearing dark robes sneered. "You think you have a choice?!"

"Yes…" Utakata raised the pipe he had in his hands and began to blow bubbles.

"Fool!" The man that Utakata dubbed the fat one shouted as he waved his wooden staff around. Sparks flew off the weapon.

Utakata just continued to blow bubbles.

"Get up now!" The ugly one whined. His voice hurt Utakata's ears.

"Naw…" Utakata shrugged and looked up at the men. "How about this…You leave me alone, and I won't kill you. I'm alright staying here for now until I figure out what happened, so as long as you don't annoy me, you'll be fine…"

"MORON!" The fat one stepped up to Utakata. "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU'RE TALKING TO?! WE'RE MEMEBERS OF THE CULT OF ZEREF!"

"And I'm the jinchūriki of the Rokubi." Utakata sighed. "I think I outrank a fat fool."

"RAW!" In anger, the fat one swung his staff at Utakata.

"…Fool…"

Swoosh! A giant bubbled appeared from Utakata's pipe.

Pop! The bubble blew up and sent the fat one flying out of the cell.

"Ah!" The ugly one's eyes widened.

"Leave. You are only allowed to talk to me if you bring me food and water. If you don't, then I will have search for some, and you might get hurt…" Utakata warned.

"WAH!" The ugly one ran out of the cell.

After teleporting, Utakata found himself outside a large tower. He allowed them to 'capture' him to find out what they wanted, but the jinchūriki refused to work for them. He wanted to use this time to figure out what to do next.

But he was comfortable and content right now. He might just stay here a while and meditate…

* * *

><p>"Annoying little brat!" An eldery pink haired woman yelled and swung a broom at the mint haired girl. "Get out of my house!"<p>

"But…it's a tree…" Fu mumbled as she rubbed her tan arm. "I thought I could sleep here…"

"No! This is my home! Get out!" Porlyusica shouted.

Fu allowed the woman to hit her with the broom. She received worse from her fellow villagers. "But…I don't know where I am…And the air seems weird…and…"

"That doesn't give you the right to barge into my home, stupid human!" Porlyusica growled.

"W-what did you call me?" Fu's eyes widened.

"Human! I hate humans! They're disgusting creatures." Porlyusica noted.

"You…you called me a human…" Fu mumbled as her eyes teared up. "N-no…no one has ever called me a human before."

"Huh?"

"WWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Fu began to weep for joy.

"What are you doing!?" Porlyusica froze as Fu jumped up and hugged her.

"T-thank you…" Fu cried into the elderly woman's dress.

* * *

><p>"Yo~" Killer Bee swung his arms around rapidly. "I am Killer Bee! You like what you see! Because I am the king! That fights in the ring! No one can beat me! So they run up a tree! Bee is the best! Above all the rest!"<p>

"Ah!" The bald elderly dressed in drag leapt to his feet and began to clap. "Bravo! Excellent! Encore!"

The dark skinned, blond haired man with sunglasses stuck out his chest in pride. "Finally! Someone appreciates my talents. Yo~"

'**Bee, you're an idiot and your rapping sucks!**' Gyūki the eight tailed octopus bull yelled at his host. '**Aren't you concered at all that we are clearly not anywhere near Kumo anymore!?**'

'No! Yo! Killer Bee needed a vacation from all the boring..ation!' Killer Bee exclaimed in his mind.

'**That's not even a real word, dumbass!**' Gyūki cried.

"So tell me, Bee…" Bob, the master of the Blue Pegasus guild, grabbed Bee's muscular arm. "What brings you to my little guild?"

"Yo~ I was lost, but now I'm found, dawg!" Bee raised his arms to the sky.

"I see…" Bob giggled. "Tell me, Bee. Do you want to join our guild?"

* * *

><p>"Hmm?" The blond haired woman with glassy blue eyes blinked as she saw what appeared to be a ten year old in the middle of the forest. He appeared to be practicing throwing knives. "What are you doing?"<p>

"Waiting." The boy with cute whisker marks on his cheek said, but did not turn.

"Waiting for what?" The woman questioned. Her white sundress waved in the wind.

"My future teacher." The boy stated.

"Teacher? What are you learning?" The woman's blond hair flowed behind her like a wavy curtain and her pure blue eyes lit up with curiosity.

"Magic. Sky magic." The boy turned.

"Sky magic…" The woman tilted her head in confusion. "Your teacher knows sky magic? That's a rare form of magic. Are you sure that's what you're going to study?"

"Yes. I haven't met my new teacher, though. I was just told to wait here…" The boy sighed.

"By who?" The woman asked out of pure curiosity.

"A woman named Azura." The boy answered.

"…I see..." Azura? How did this boy know that name? It was a name that appeared in only the most advanced sky magic books. Not even the Magic Council, who made it their business to know everything, would have a clue of what that name stood for... "And this woman Azura...why did she tell you to wait here for your teacher?"

"She said that I need to learn that magic in order to reach my dream." He informed her.

"And that is?"

"To touch the sky."

"Psh..gah...hahahahahahahahahah" The woman burst out laughing.

"...Why are you laughing?" The boy frowned. He looked insulted.

"Oh...hahaha...I'm sorry..." The woman smiled brightly. "I didn't mean to offend you. I just haven't heard anything so ridiculous since...I was a loudmouth kid with strange dreams of my own..."

"I see..."

"You know, I practice sky magic." The woman noted.

"You do?" The boy's eyes lit up. "I see…Then you are the person Azura said to wait for."He bowed. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. Please, teach me to touch the sky."

The woman eyed him. He appeared to be wearing some weird kind of armor. He looked like a soldier…a child solder who had gone through too much. His eyes showed suffering and pain. The woman instantly felt sympathy for him. Despite the strangeness of the situation, she felt as if this was a destined meeting.

"Yes, I can teach you if you want." April extended a hand towards the bowing boy. She appeared to have a strange orange tattoo on the back of her hand. "My name is April Kazen, ex-mage of Fairy Tail."

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you all for reading and please remember to…<strong>

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	3. Adjusting

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 3: "Adjusting"

(Year: X775)

'…**You know…I've been thinking…**' Kurama mentioned to his only companion.

'Is that so…' It was obvious that Naruto didn't care. 'What else is new? Let me guess, it's about Azura?'

'**Yeah. Okay, I know we went over this kind of stuff a hundred times by now, but…What about my Yin chakra?**'

'What about it? It was sealed into the Shinigami's stomach with my father.' Naruto mentioned.

'**But wouldn't that mean that would weaken the barrier she was talking about?**' Kurama questioned.

'Perhaps the Shinigami exists outside the barrier or some shit like that.' Naruto stated. 'Now, be quiet. I need to concentrate…'

'**Whatever, I was just asking a question…**' Kurama grumbled and placed his head on his paws. '**It's just strange to wonder about. Plus, it seems that Azura is a 'god,' so why would she give someone the power to slay her? And what's the connection between our home world and Earthland that the old man used to talk about? And…**'

Naruto ignored his partner and focused on the task at hand. He was in a simple examination room that April built into her house. There were shelves of medical books, a cabinets with organized medicine and bandages, and the bed wear the patients sit.

After a year of training with April, Naruto had learned enough about sky magic to get into the healing aspect of it. That was one of the differences between sky and wind magic. Not only was sky magic devastatingly strong, it had the ability to heal people. That made it even more useful…to everyone but Naruto. Truthfully, he didn't care about healing people, but it was a required part of his training, so he did it.

"Ah…" The aging farm sighed as the wounds on his leg healed. "Thank you, son. I thought that when the horse threw me off, I wouldn't able to walk for a month. Now, I can get my crops ready."

"Don't mention it." Naruto shrugged. "Kazen-sensei could have easily done it, Conner-san."

"Hahahahahahaha! True, but at least with you I don't have to deal with a tongue lashing! In fact, I don't think it would kill you to talk a little bit more, Naruto." Conner mentioned.

"I get that a lot…" Naruto gave a small chuckle and smiled at the man he knew for a year. "I managed to heal most of it. Your leg should be sore for a day or so, but besides that you'll be fine."

"Good! I can't trust that wishy washy son of mine to get the job done alone!" Conner jumped to his feet. "In fact, I better be getting back to him. Thanks again, Naruto!"

"You're welcome…" Naruto continued to smile as Conner left. Well…there were upsides to being a healer. Receiving thanks was very different than what he was used to in Konoha.

…But it was nice…

"You finished?" April questioned from the door frame. "How was he?"

"His leg was pretty banged up, but besides that…" Naruto shrugged. "He'll be fine."

"Did you give him any medicine or instructions?" April questioned.

"Should I have?" Naruto returned.

The woman sighed. "Yes, Naruto. Not everyone is like you. They can't get healed instantly."

"He'll be fine." Naruto shrugged.

"…Fine, but it's on you if he comes back within a week." April finally noted.

"And if that happens, I shall come to you on my hands and knees and beg for your forgiveness, Kazen-sensei." Naruto spoke up.

"Smartass…" April rolled her eyes. "I guess you don't want training today…"

"…" Naruto got on his hands and knees. "Forgive me, Kazen-sensei. I was wrong."

"Hahahahahaha!" The blond haired woman laughed. "Good to see that your ego is still non-existent. I give you credit, though, you're true to your word."

"I never go back on my word." Naruto raised from his bow. "Even if I was being sarcastic."

"Good to know. That means if I trick you into saying you'll rub my feet, you'll do it?" April smirked.

"…Yes, but there is no way you can trick me into saying that…" Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"You underestimate me…"

* * *

><p>Gaara was content for the first time in his life. For the past year, he stayed in this desert and killed anyone that passed. Luckily, he quickly found a small oasis that had plenty of water and food. The red-haired boy usually stayed in the shade of the oasis and waited for anyone to appear in the horizon. And if someone appeared…Well, Gaara would prove his existence was greater than theirs.<p>

The greatest part was that at nights, he could let himself sleep. Mother always took over when he let himself unconscious. Back at Suna, if he allowed this to happen, his father would stop his rampage and place him in lock up with guards to make sure he stayed awake. Now, though, he could sleep from sunrise to sunset.

Gaara was just grateful that Mother didn't move too far from the oasis. He actually enjoyed life while staying by the oasis.

"…" Gaara took a deep breath. Over the past year, he learned about this…new world that he was in. Despite his desire for blood, Gaara listened to the people that passed by before killing them. He now knew what the weird feeling in the air was. It was magic.

Apparently, that was the main form of energy in this world. That explained why the air was so rich. Magical energy was everywhere. While about equal in strength, magic was superior to chakra in one aspect. It was an outside source that people didn't need to live. If a magic user ran out of energy, they could just absorb more later. Chakra users, however, could possibly die by using too much energy.

Gaara thought about trying to work with magic, but it didn't work all that well. He tried to use his new magical abilities to control sand, but it didn't work the same way as with chakra. He could barely get it to move. Not that he stopped trying. When not killing travelers, Gaara didn't have a whole lot to do…

But when there was someone nearby…

"Hey you!" A voice snapped to Gaara. "Have you seen a demon around here? I've been contracted to kill it!"

Gaara grinned darkly. It was time to prove his existence again.

* * *

><p>"So…I wasn't the only one sent here." Yugito noted as she nursed her drink.<p>

"Yeeep, both of us were mashed to here in a flash, dawg~." Bee nodded his head.

"You know I hate being called dawg, Bee?" The twenty-one year old woman glared. "Can you please take this seriously? We've been gone from home for over a year."

"…" Bee looked around the guild hall of Lamia Scale. After hearing that this guild had a mage that had catlike tendencies and blue fire, Bee basically ran here from his own guild. Rubbing his guild mark, he mumbled. "Sorry."

"It's fine, Bee." Yugito sighed. "It's just how you are…"

"Yeah…" Bee nodded. "It is…How you been, number 2?"

"Pretty damn great." Yugito admitted. "This…has been the most relaxing year of my life."

"Me to, but…I miss home." Bee noted.

Yugito was silent.

"You don't?" Bee raised a blond eyebrow. His shades hid the confusion in his eyes.

"Bee…I worked hard to gain the respect of everyone in Kumo, but their eyes…" Yugito shuttered. "No matter what, they feared and hated me. Here though…"

She looked around. Her guildmates were cheering and laughing. Her guild master Ooba Babasaama was currently spinning a few of them that mouthed off to her. Her usual partner in missions, Jura Neekis who oddly enough was bald at the age of eighteen, was sitting patiently nearby. He was waiting for her to finish so they could go on their next mission.

There was even a few kids in the guild. One looked like a dogboy and the other had really large eyebrows.

"I am…happy." Yugito noted. "More so than I have ever been. I don't know what happened, but I'm grateful. I…I'm sorry that I feel that way. I know you must miss your brother."

"I do…But it is nice not to have to be yelled at by A-bro, but I promised to always have his back yo. Sorry, force of habit." Bee gained a sheepish grin.

"So will you work to find a way back?" Yugito questioned.

"…I'll try, but I don't know if I can." Bee frowned. "This complicated stuff isn't my forte…And I do enjoy my time in Blue Pegasus."

"I've met some of the mages from there…You definitely fit in there." Yugito smiled.

"That I do…" Bee groaned and rose to his feet. "Well, I leave you be, cause this Bee needs to get back to the nest, dawg."

"I'm a cat, not a dog…" Yugito rolled her eyes.

"Word, kitty cat, word…" Bee then began to leave. "Take care, yo~"

Seeing that her visitor was now gone, Jura approached the woman. "Your friend was very strange, Yugito."

"Yeah, but you won't ever meet a more loyal guy." Yugito smiled.

"Yugito! Jura!" Ooba jumped on top of the counter of the bar and spun her fingers in circles. "You need to get going or you'll miss your train! You must not disappoint our clients! Spinning!"

"Yes, Ooba-sama!" Yugito snapped to attention. Her eyes were sharp and her stature was rigid as her militaristic instincts kicked in as she saluted the guild master. "I will uphold the high standards of Lamia Scale!"

"I know you will!" Ooba declared. "You should all work as hard as Yugito! She sets the bar for all of you! Granted if she was around in my days…"

Everyone groaned as Ooba began to lecture them again. Even Jura looked bored. Yugito, however, stood at complete attention the whole time without moving a muscle.

* * *

><p>"Sky Shot!" Naruto yelled as he sent a blast of air towards his teacher. The blast came out of his hand and was strong enough to crack the bark of a tree. April, however, blocked it with ease.<p>

"Nice technique, now add more power behind it." April instructed.

"Hai!" Naruto rushed forward. He sent a roundhouse kick to her midsection. The wind flew around his leg in a sweeping motion. "Sky Whip!"

"Sky Burst." A strung gust of wind blew around April and hurled Naruto back. He still landed on his feet, but his attack didn't even get close to hitting his teacher.

"Sky Spear!" Naruto gathered wind around his hands. Then, in a straight votex of twirling wind, the magic attack flew towards April.

"Excellent…" April actually dodged what had become Naruto's favorite attack. "But you need more speed."

"Sky…" Naruto raised his hands together and was about to bring them down in an arching motion, but he was stopped.

"Sky Geyser." April waved her hands.

Wind burst from below Naruto's feet. The force sent him flying into the air. Luckily, while the attack was fast, it lacked the power to do any real damage to Naruto. Nevertheless, he tossed away into the nearby forest. He landed through the branches with a crash.

"In case you didn't know…I was trying to get you to use support magic." April noted as her apprentice dragged himself out of the trees and back to the clearing that was behind April's simple one story, blue home.

"I get it, but it takes time to use support sky magic." Naruto picked twigs out of his hair. "Even is I used it to speed myself up, I would be completely open. Then you would have told me not to drop my guard and used the same attack."

"You know me so well…" April sighed in contentment. "But if you sped up your incantation, you wouldn't be open so…be faster."

"Yes, master. Whatever you say, master…" Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Hey! Don't make fun of me, brat!" April stuck her tongue and and pulled her right eyelid down. "I'm the mature teacher here, and you're my humble little student that should do everything I say!"

"…I'm sorry, did you say something? I was cleaning out my ears…" Naruto put his finger in his ear and acted like he was cleaning it out.

"Gah…Who taught you to be such a brat?" April pouted and held her arms under her bust.

"You and Kurama." Naruto shrugged and then used the foxy smile that Kurama taught him. "You're both bad influences on me."

Over the course of the time Naruto spent with April, he revealed all his secrets to her. He didn't want her to ever question his motives or past while training him. Oddly enough, she seemed to believe him. Naruto didn't know if she was good at reading people or if she was gullible.

"Stupid brat…Saying I'm a bad influence…" April kicked him in the head and then held him down with her foot. "What do you say now?"

"…You're wearing a sundress…" Naruto stated.

"So?"

"You're standing over me…Cute panties by the way." Naruto mentioned.

"Thanks! I thought about wearing my silk ones, but then the red shows through the dress and people can see them…" April blinked. "Wait…Oh…You little pervert! Stop looking up my skirt!"

"Then get off of me, dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed. He then paused. Wait…

"Ha!" April released Naruto and stepped back laughing. "I got you to say it again! That's so hilarious!"

Naruto felt his flush. His sensei had a tendency to do things like things like this. She was always trying to shake him up by doing weird things like this. He had to admit that it worked. Naruto was coming out of the emotionless tendencies he had before. It also helped that Kurama's constant barrage of sarcastic remarks and mocking of basically everyone has been in his ear for years.

He was still the boy that viewed emotions as pointless, but he could understand the upsides a little now.

"I hate you…" Naruto muttered.

April knelt down and pinched his cheeks. In the most demeaning voice possible, she stated, "I love you too, Naru-chan!"

* * *

><p>"What are we even doing?" Yagura questioned as he walked with his companion to the train station.<p>

"We're going to go hunt some monsters!" Xion cheered. She was a taller woman than most. Her short hair was pitch black, but her eyes were a warm brown. Her dusty, torn, and old trench coat hid most of her figure, but Yagura knew that she had a very womanly body. "Burp!...Woah, I think I tasted pickles in that one. When did I have pickles?"

"You stole them from my plate at the restaurant…" Yagura sighed. "Can't you act like a lady for once?"

"No way! That's boring as hell!" Xion laughed and stomped the ground in laughter.

"AH!"

"Help! An earthquake!"

"We're all going to die!"

"Woops…" Xion stopped her moments and grinned sheepishly. "My bad!"

All the people began to run away screaming.

"Ah! Why do people always do that…" Xion sighed with a shrug. "I'm a fun person if you get to know me…and not get smashed to dust. A lot of my friends and old boyfriends got smashed to dust. But that was before I got my little sidekick!"

The woman hugged Yugara close. The difference in height caused her to lean down. Her sizeable breasts smashed against the top of his head.

The ex-Mizukage frowned. "I am not your sidekick! We are partners!"

"But people ask me if you're my kid." Xion mentioned. "How can I be partners with a little boy?"

"I am not a little boy! I am a fully grown man! I went through puberty! Respect that, damn it!" Yugara screamed.

"I know…" Xion smirked. "After all, you seem to be enjoying my hug a lot~"

"…No comment…" Yugara stated but did nothing to exit the hug.

"Of course not…" Xion exited the hug and looked around the train station. "Oh…I scared everyone of again…"

"Of course you did. Your laughter causes earthquakes. Your sneezes destroy buildings. And your or…Er…" Yugara paused.

"It rocks the world." Xion smirked.

"That is not a proper topic." Yugara stated firmly. "Let us move on immediately."

"You're such a stiff." Xion spat on the ground and scratched her armpit.

"And you are a slop." Yugara noted.

"Thank you."

"It was not a compliment."

"I'll take it as one…" Xion blinked. "Oh…I destroyed the tracks by accident…"

"Crap…" Yugara sighed and slumped down. "Now what?"

"Can we take the turutle?" Xion questioned.

"No. Last time you got so excited you almost put a crack in his shell. He is still quite displeased." Yugara noted.

"Oh…Time for the catapult then. Earth God's Catapult!" Xion noted. She waved her arms to the side. Beside the train station, the earth began to turn black and shift. A giant catapult was formed. "Let's go!"

"Damn…" Yugara followed the cheering woman. "I hate that cursed catapult."

* * *

><p>"Roshi…" Han noted as he leaned back in his chair. "What's with the white and gold robes?"<p>

"Eh?" Roshi blinked and looked down at his clothes. "You see there was this girl…"

"You never change old man. You see a pretty face and some wide eyes and you're wrapped around some girl's finger." Han laughed harshly. "Are you that desperate for some affection?"

"Not everyone is as gruff and cold as you, Han. And like you're one to talk about acting strange." Roshi eyed the place where Han was sitting. "You start a dark guild and sit on a thrown? I thought you hated authority figures."

"And what better way to stick it to those stiffs in the Magic Council than making a Dark Guild." Has shrugged from his spot on the throne. "It wasn't even really that hard. I just started beating people up, other people started following me, and then Death's Caucus Head was born."

"I can see that…" Roshi looked around the surprisingly well kept building. It was filled with people. They all didn't look like criminals. Most of them were incredibly normal. There were even a few kids here…one of them seemed to have an owl head… "I'm surprised that these are the people that follow you. They seem so…not violent."

"Just because we are a dark guild does not mean we are bad people." Han stated. "We just don't want to conform to the Magic Council's whims."

"That I can understand…they can be real assholes sometims…" Roshi sighed when he remembered when a few of the members came to the church and acted like they owned the place. "But I'm not here about any of that."

"Then why are you here?" Han questioned.

"I heard about you. The Steam Bull." Roshi stroked his red beard. "From the description, I knew it was you. I came to ask if you knew what happened. How did we end up here?"

"Who cares?" Han shrugged. "This place is a lot better than home. I don't have to deal with that big nosed old man and his stupid demands. Why are you even asking? I thought you were retiring anyway."

"Doesn't it bother you that you and I were teleported to this weird land without even a hint of what happened?" Roshi questioned. "I spoke with the High Priestess, but I don't want to explain everything just yet, so she can't give a full answer…"

Han did not care who the priestess was. "No, it doesn't bother me. I'm free now. That's all that matters. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, old man. You complained about Iwa even more than I did."

"Yeah…" Roshi rubbed the back of his neck. "At least now I can grow old in peace."

"That's the spirit."

* * *

><p>"Are you still mad?" April questioned. They were in the small kitchen that she had in her home. It had a simple stove and sink, but there were pictures of flowers and clouds everywhere. The sky magic users even painted the ceiling to look like the sky and the floor to look like a garden.<p>

"I was never mad. Anger is a useless thing." Naruto took a bite of the vegetable on his plate. "It makes people illogical and causes them to do things they regret."

"It is a human emotion, Naruto." April noted with a frown. "It isn't useless."

"Of course it is." Naruto eyed his teacher. "It is something that only brings suffering."

"You're wrong…" April stated. "It doesn't bring suffering. It is meant to bring an end to suffering. People get angry because things become unjust or unfair. Anger is a sign of passion and pride in what we care for."

"Whatever…" Naruto shrugged.

April frowned. "Do not take emotions so lightly, Naruto. They are what make us human."

"I have never been called human." Naruto rationalized. "I was raised as a weapon and am being trained to be a god slayer."

"And what makes you think I will even give you my notes on Sky God Slayer magic?" April questioned. "I can't even preform such magic. What makes you think you can?"

"Because I have to in order to fulfil my goal." Naruto stated.

"Okay…And what makes you think that I will even let you learn if you refuse to accept your emotions." April questioned. "Sky God Magic…It's dangerous. In the wrong hands, it could be used to destroy things like a hurricane could. I cannot in good conscience let someone emotionally unstable learn that magic."

"You…think I'm emotionally unstable?" Naruto frowned.

"No, not now, but if you keep bottling up what you feel, you'll crack. And then you will truly do something that you do regret." April noted. "You once told me that you refused to feel angry at the man that responsible for your parents' death. That's not a good thing Naruto."

"And what was I supposed to do? Get angry at him and get revenge?" Naruto questioned.

"No, you were supposed to grieve." April noted. "It's something you refuse to do."

"I can't grieve people I never met." Naruto rationalized.

"Maybe so, but you can grieve the fact that you never had the life you deserved." April mentioned. "But instead, you bury your emotions in your heart instead of dealing with them. That never ends well."

"…You act like I have experience in the matter." Naruto stated. "Feeling is not natural for me. I was trained…beaten into never feeling."

"And that's why I spend so much time trying to help you." April explained. "Even if it's small…you're making progress. Today, you were happy to help Conner and you were flustered by me. But until you're willing to open up, you will never be able to find happiness."

"No…I will never be happy until I learn Sky God Slayer magic." Naruto stood from the table. "And you refuse to let me teach myself."

"Because you're not ready."

"When will I be ready?

"When I say so."

"Then never…" Naruto frowned. "You know I've been ready for a few months, but you continue to keep me from it. Why? Because you're afraid of me leaving you and you being alone?"

"That's not it, Naruto." April glared at him.

"Is it because you pity me for my past?" He frowned.

"No, now stop-"

"No, I won't. Quit treating me like a child. I was never allowed to be a child, so now shouldn't be any different." Naruto stated. "So stop treating me like I'm some kid that you're completely responsible for. I'm not your son."

"…" April clenched her fork. "Go to your room. NOW."

"As your student, I will obey, but…Despite what you think, you're not my mother." Naruto walked away. "My mother died and abandoned me to a cursed life a long ago."

* * *

><p>"Meh…The sun is so hot…" Utakata mumbled and leaned back in his small boat. "I wish it would get cloudy so the sun wouldn't burn so much…"<p>

To his embarrassment, Utakata stayed at the tower for about a year. It wasn't that he didn't think about leaving. It was just that the tower was nice, dark, damp, and quiet…But the jinchūriki realized he couldn't stay there forever. While the cultists left him alone out of fear, the slaves glared and yelled at him to do something. He would…but he didn't care about some stupid humans. Plus, he should probably figure what happened to send him there in the first place.

It was then that Utakata decided to leave. It was no longer peaceful there for him there, especially with that red haired girl yelling at him.

So, Utakata grabbed a boat and sailed off. He didn't care about what happened to the people there. People never cared about him, so he didn't care about them. The jinchūriki didn't even feel slightly guilty by leaving.

"What to do now…" Utakata blew bubbles from his pipe. He learned a lot about this world from listening to the cultists. From what they said, it might be smart to find a guild or something. "Ah…I don't want to work, though…"

He just wanted to relax and not have to deal with stupid crap. Maybe he could just live in a forest instead? Eat the fruit and relax by a waterfall or something…

"I need to find land, though…" The brown haired boy realized. "…Which way do I go?"

It suddenly occurred to him that he didn't exactly think things through all that much. But that wasn't anything new. It could be worse, people could be trying to kill him or he could be back at the village. Those guys back at his home village were depressing. At least now he didn't have to deal with them.

"I guess I can purify the water and eat the fish…" Utakata realized. "And the sun won't do too much damage to a jinchūriki, but it's a pain…"

He was then covered by shade.

"Oh?" Utakata blinked. "That works. Maybe I should complain about things more…"

Vroooooooom!

"Huh?" Utakata looked up to see a floating ship thing…or something. "Well, that's new…"

"It is, isn't it?"

"Yep. Pretty impressive."

"Thank you. I take pride in my mobile guild."

"Your mobile guild…" Utakata turned and blinked at the elderly man with long hair and an eye patch. He was floating over the water. There was no shadow, though, so it was probably an illusion. "That's your ship…or something?"

"Yes. I've been using it to look for you." The elderly man noted.

"Looking for me?" Utakata tilted his head.

"Yes, you terrorized the Tower of Heaven with ease for a year. That is very impressive." The man explained. "So impressive, that I want you to join my guild."

"Guild, eh…" The teen rubbed his head. "I don't know…would I have to do boring stuff?"

"Not often, no." The old man stated.

"…Alright, I guess. I don't have anything better to do." Utakata shrugged. "And…what's your name, guild master?"

"Hades. Master of Grimoire Heart."

* * *

><p>"Obaa-chan!" Fu cried as she ran into the house shaped tree. "I got the plants you wanted."<p>

"Good, those Fairy Tail idiots keep hurting themselves, so I need as much supplies a possible." Porlyusica noted from her desk. She was currently making medicine.

"Then why do you want me to go there, Obaa-chan?" Fu tilted her head to the side.

"Because I want you to go away, stupid child." Porlyusica rolled her eyes.

"Oh…But then who would get the plants for you?" Fu questioned.

"I can get my own plants!" Porlyusica snapped.

"Not as fast as me!" Fu bragged. "My bugs lead me right to the ones I want."

"…That is true, but it's not worth dealing with you…" Porlyusica mentioned with a frown.

"You always say that, Obaa-chan, but I know you put that extra blanket on me last night." Fu beamed at her most precious person.

"No I didn't…." Porlyusica argued weakly.

"Yes you did! Despite what you say, you like me." Fu looked absolutely content at that moment. "You're the first person to ever be kind to me, that's why I love Obaa-chan!"

"It's sad if I'm the nicest person you ever met." Porlyusica mentioned sadly. "You should really go to Fairy Tail. You would be happy there."

"But then Obaa-chan would be lonely. I can't let that happen." Fu stated.

"I don't get lonely. I hate humans and moved out here to get away from them." Porlyusica argued.

"I know. But I'm not a human. I'm a jinchūriki." Fu mentioned.

"Hmmm…'The power of the human sacrifice'…" Porlyusica remembered when Fu first explained what that was. The tales she heard about what it was like to be a jinchūriki made her hate humanity even more. How could anyone ever hate an innocent child like that? "There are nine of you right?"

"Yeah."

"Tell me, do you think they might have teleported between worlds with you?" Porlyusica knew that the girl she was caring for was from a different world. Just like her…except it wasn't Edolas. It was a different world, one that was filled with war and grief.

"Maybe, but that might end badly." Fu stated. "A lot of us are really destructive. I heard that number 9 has the power to shatter mountains and cause tsunamis with a swipe of the tail."

"I see…" This worried Porlyusica greatly.

"But you don't have to worry about that with me!" Insect like wings extended from the girls back and allowed her to float into the air. "Because I'm lucky number 7! With my good luck, I'll make sure nothing bad ever happens to Obaa-chan and her guild!"

* * *

><p>Knock! Knock! Knock!<p>

"Naruto?" April's voice sounded behind the door to the jinchūriki's room.

"Yes?" Naruto answered. He was meditating on the middle of his room. "What is it?"

"…I need to speak with you." April noted.

"Then come in, Kazen-sensei." Naruto did not open his eyes.

April entered the small room. It did not have a lot in it. A shelve full of sky magic books and a small desk were the only furniture besides the bed. "…You need to liven up the place, you know that."

"I can see the sky from the window. That is all I need." Naruto opened his eyes but did not rise from his position.

"Of course you would say that…" April walked over to his bed and sat down. "Is that all you care about?"

"Somewhat, yes. There's still Kurama, but besides that..." Naruto answered immediately. "It was the only comfort I had for a long time."

"…You are still a cold person, Naruto." She gave him a sad look. "But you are also observant. What you said was hurtful…but true. I have been treating you like a child…and you haven't been a child for a long time."

"That…doesn't excuse my rudeness." Naruto bowed his head. "Forgive me, Kazen-sensei."

"I wish you wouldn't call me that…" April mentioned sadly.

"It is the proper thing to call you." Naruto rationalized.

"Still…" The blonde woman gained a wistful look. "…Never mind. You were right. I am holding you back. You have such potential, and I was wrong to try and halt your progress. That's why I'm giving you this."

She used a magic called Requip which stored items in a pocket dimension. The item she summoned was an old tomb that seemed to be falling apart.

"Is that…" Naruto eyed the book.

"Yes. This has all the notes available on Sky God Slayer Magic. I could never get it to work, but I think it takes a certain kind of person to be able to use this magic." April stared at the book.

"…Can I see it?" Naruto finally rose and stared at the book.

"Yes, but only on one condition." April explained. "If I give you this book, you must allow me to teach you more than magic. You must let me teach you what it means to be a human. We'll do lessons on emotions."

"…And that is you final offer?"

"Yes."

Naruto frowned. April's new lessons seemed pointless, but he needed to learn that magic. It was the only way to get close enough to being like the sky. "Fine. I agree."

"Excellent!" April cheered and handed him the book. "We'll start tomorrow!"

"Okay…" Naruto held the book close to him.

"You should get some rest then." April walked to the door. "I think that tomorrow is going to be a long day."

"Yeah…It probably will be…" Naruto probably wasn't going to sleep, though. He wanted to read this book.

"Goodnight, Naruto. I'll see you tomorrow." April stated from the doorframe.

"Goodnight, Kazen-sensei." Naruto peered into his book.

"…" April paused and looked back. "Naruto?"

"Yes?" Naruto looked up.

"…What you said…about me treating you like my son…you were right." April mentioned. "I do think of you as a son, because…I never had the chance to have one."

"…Why are you telling me this?" Naruto questioned.

"I don't know. Maybe it's your first lesson. Maybe it's your last." April shrugged. "But I want you to think about it for a while."

"…If you say so." Naruto eyed her.

"Goodnight, Naruto." With that, she closed the door.

'**Kit?**' Kurama spoke up. '**Are you okay?**'

'Of course I am. I have my ticket to Sky God Slayer magic now.' Naruto gave a small smirk.

'**That's not what I meant.**'

'I know, but I don't want to think about that.' Naruto mentioned. 'Right now, it's time to start my journey to become a god slayer. That's all that matters.'

* * *

><p><strong>This will be the last time I will show how the other jinchūriki are doing for a while. The main focus of the story is Naruto, but the other jinchūriki will show up. Some have more spotlight than others, but they're all important.<strong>

**Thank you all for reading and please remember to…**

**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW**


	4. Humanity

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 4: "Humanity"

(Year: X776)

Naruto took deep breaths. He concentrated on the air around him. The air, the wind, and the sky…he could feel them now. Before, it was noticeable, but now he could feel the warm fingers of the sky brush against his cheeks. It was everything he imagined.

From his spot on the hill, Naruto reached out. With his eyes still closed in a meditative state, he tried to touch the fingers that danced around him. He couldn't reach them, though. No matter what he did, the hands of the sky seemed to allude his grasp.

The jinchūriki never stopped trying, though. Every day, he reached out and tried to grab the hand of freedom. It never worked, and according to April, it never would.

According to his sensei, he was too emotionless to ever have a true understanding of the heavens. After all, it is the sky that brings down the rage of hurricanes. It is the heaves that cry deeply without any regret. It is the bright blue day that allows the joy of the sun to shine its brightest.

'Damn…' Naruto frowned. 'What am I missing?'

'**Humanity, Kit.**' Kurama spoke. '**It was your lack of humanity that led me to like you in the first place. You kill without remorse. You refuse to care for any other mortal. You don't allow yourself to feel anything. You refuse to be a human. You are a weapon, a jinchūriki.**'

'That is not who I chose to be.' Naruto argued.

'**Maybe not, but it doesn't change who you are.**' Kurama shrugged. '**You're a heartless bastard with no heart.**'

'That's a rude thing to say.' Naruto noted.

'**But it is true.**'

'…' Naruto had no argument.

Opening his eyes, Naruto peered at the blue sky above him. From the top of this hill, he had a great view of the sky. Not only that, he could see the town down below and April's house past the edge of the town. It was a beautiful view, and Naruto often came here to meditate.

His progress in Sky God Slayer magic was minimal. His sky magic gained a slight black tint to it, but it never had the force behind it that the notes said there should be. It was frustrating to say the least. He could feel it, though. Each day, he was getting closer.

"Naruto!" April called from the side of the hill. She had a basket in her hand and a sunhat on her head. The wind moved her pure white sundress and golden hair. This allowed emphasized her feminine figure in ways that most teen boys Naruto's age would find pleasing.

Her heart shaped face shone in the sun. The woman's pure blue eyes sparkled. A beautiful smile graced her lips. In that moment, Naruto thought that she looked truly angelic.

"I'm going to town to buy some food for dinner!" April called. "Do you want to come?!"

"…Sure!" Naruto called back and stood. He quickly approached his sensei. "What are you planning on making?"

"…A dish I haven't made for a while." April mentioned.

"Oh? Is it that weird puffer fish thing?" Naruto questioned.

"No…It was a dish I ate a long time ago, but haven't made for a while." April noted. "It was always my favorite though."

"Why did you stop eating it, though?" Naruto questioned.

"Because I never had a reason to cook it." April began to walk down the hill.

"What is it?"

"Ramen."

* * *

><p>"Good afternoon, April!"<p>

"Ah! It's the angle of Trafalgar!"

"It's great to see you again, Kazen-sama!"

April waved and greeted the townspeople. She was well known, respected, and loved in this town. Her kindness and generosity was well known. The woman always used her sky magic to heal the sick and injured, and she did it for free.

Naruto never really understood this, but he didn't question it. It was just part of her weird morality. Besides, it have him good practice on using his healing sky magic. He didn't really care for others, but it healing magic could also heal his wounds, so that was an upside. Now, he didn't have to completely rely on Kurama.

"It's good to see you, April." An elderly woman named Sofia smiled. "How have you been?"

"Fine. Been having to deal with this brat, but besides that…" April giggled.

"You're more of a brat than I am, April-sensei." Naruto mentioned.

"You take that back!" April grabbed his whiskered cheek and pulled it. "I'm the definition of maturity!"

"Fine, fine." Naruto slapped his hand away. "Just don't do that. It's annoying, dat…"

"Huh?" April grinned teasingly and cupped a hand behind her ear. "What was that last bit?"

"…Nothing." Naruto looked away. He hated the verbal tick. Apparently, he got it from his birth mother. That was just a great trait to get from a woman he never even met for real.

"If you say so." April did not drop the grin, though.

"Oh, you two." Sofia laughed. "You're always fun to be around."

"Whatever…" Naruto shrugged with a neutral look. He was quick to gain his composure.

"So, what you gonna buy, Aunty?!" A head popped out from behind the stand that they were at. She was a brown haired little girl with a pink bow in her hair. Her green eyes sparkled in mischief.

"Just some vegetables." April looked at the produce on the stand.

"Well, pick out whatever you want. After you healed Sora last weak, you get everything free today." Sofia stated.

"Thank you, but that's not necessary…" April smiled. "I still have plenty of money saved from my days as a mage."

"Yes, you were a member of Fairy Tail, right?" Sofia eyed the guild tattoo on the Sky Magic user's hand. "What made you quit, anyway?"

"I…decided I needed a change." April answered.

"But didn't you like it, Aunty?" Sora walked from out behind the stand.

"Of course I did. I love all my friends from the guild." April patted the girl's head. "There was just too many reminders of the past."

"Huh?" Sora was confused.

"Forget it, Sora." Naruto spoke up. "It's complicated."

"Okay, Naru-nii!" Sora beamed up at the boy.

"Don't call me that." Naruto sighed.

"But it suits you, Naruto-nii." Sora stated. "After all, you let me play dress up with you all the time."

"That means nothing." Naruto stared down at the little girl in the blue dress.

"Of course it does!" Sora smiled. "We're friends! That's why I made you this!"

Sora held out a crown made of flowers. It was colorful and pretty. This did not suit Naruto at all.

"…No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pweeeeeeease?" Sora's eyes went big and filled with tears.

"Damn…" Naruto bowed his head and let the little girl place the flowery crown on his head.

April laughed. "I love it! How adorable, Naru-chan~"

"…" Naruto was silent

"Now a piggy back ride!" Sora demanded.

"…Fine, but don't cry this time."

"Then don't jump from the rooftops!"

"Oh, I hate when they do that." Sofia frowned. "Sora could get hurt."

"Trust Naruto a little." April smiled. "He has excellent coordination. He won't drop him."

"You have a lot of faith in your student." Sofia noted.

"Of course." April nodded.

"And I noticed…" Sofia gave the woman a knowing look. "You have been much happier with him around."

"…I always wanted a son." April admitted. She gripped her stomach tightly. "But I never had one."

"Oh? Never found the right man?"

"No…It's not that…" April gained a saddened look. "I just can't have one."

* * *

><p>"It's always nice to speak to everyone in town." April noted as she and her apprentice began their trek home.<p>

"I guess." Naruto shrugged. He was carrying the basket full of food that they bought.

"You know, Sora just adores you. I think she has a crush on you." April smirked at the boy.

"That's nice, I suppose." Naruto didn't seem to care.

"I think it's sweet." April chuckled. "Maybe in ten years when she's eighteen, you'll get married."

"Married?" Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Where did that come from?"

"It's a woman thing. We like to think about such things." April giggled. They passed by Conner-san's farm and made sure to wave at the farmer and his family.

After they passed the farm, Naruto spoke up. "I don't like the concept of marriage. It seems like something that restricts freedom."

"Well…It kind of does." April admitted. "But it's an expression of devotion and commitment to another person."

"No thanks then." Naruto frowned. "I don't want anything to hold back my freedom."

"You'll change your mind when you fall in love." April noted.

"Doubtful. Even though I was young, Danzo-sama made sure that I began my training to resist seduction." Naruto mentioned.

"That's not what I meant…It's not about lust. It's about love." April mentioned.

"And you think I'm capable of loving someone so much that I would restrict my own freedom for her?" Naruto scoffed. "Not likely."

"Perhaps you will change your mind one day." April shrugged.

"…April-sensei." Naruto spoke up.

"Yes?" April turned to look at the boy.

"Were you ever married?" Naruto questioned. "You speak with such passion about it, but you don't wear a ring and you don't have any wedding pictures."

"I…I do have all those things. They're in the attic." April gained a sad look. "I don't want to think about them though. Marriage is only until death after all."

"…How did he die?" Naruto questioned.

"He…was killed on a mission." April explained. "We were on the mission together, but…we were separated and I couldn't get to him in time to save him."

"…I'm sorry." Naruto stated. "I didn't know."

"It's fine." April smiled sadly. "It happened a long time ago."

* * *

><p>"…" Naruto looked up from his notes to look over at April who was cooking dinner. "April-sensei, may I ask another personal question?"<p>

"Oh? You're very inquisitive today, Naruto." April noted as she worked at the stove. "Very well, what is it?"

"You talk about Fairy Tail a lot. You clearly loved your guild. Why did you leave?" Naruto questioned.

"Many different reasons." April noted. "Too many empty bedrooms at my old home, the constant looks at pity, the dreams I knew would never come to be."

"Dreams?" Naruto took notice of that.

"Yes." April nodded. "I always wanted to be guild master, just like the first one Master Mavis, but…I knew after what happened, I could never do it."

"Oh?" Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"

"I had many reasons." April sighed. "It started when I found out I was infertile…then my husband died…and then I tried…a forbidden form of magic. It ended badly. Master Markarov was angry, but forgave me. He said we could move past it…but I couldn't. There was too many bad memories. So I left and came here."

"Hmm…I see." Naruto nodded slowly.

"Aren't you going to ask what forbidden magic I used?" April turned to him. She had a sad look on her face.

"No…I can see that talking about it upsets you." Naruto shrugged. "Let's just move on."

"…" The woman stared at him for a moment, then began to giggle. "Hahahaha…Oh, you really have grown. You never used to be sensitive to how I felt…"

"If I annoy or upset you, it will come back and bite me. So, it's better to avoid it all together." Naruto closed his eyes and crossed his arms. "That's all."

"Sure it is, you big softy."

"…Whatever…"

"Okay, okay, I won't tease you. You can come back out of your shell." April placed a bowl in front Naruto along with a pair of chopsticks. "You need to try this after all."

Naruto's eyes snapped open. He looked down at the bowl in front of him. The boy could feel his mouth begin to water. "That…smells really good…"

"Of course it does." April smiled and set her own bowl on the table. "Ramen is the food of the gods after all."

"I see…" Naruto bowed his head. "Itadakimasu."

He then began to eat. The noodles flowed into his mouth. After one bite, Naruto paused for only a brief second and then began to eat as quickly as possible.

"Hahahahaha…" April ate at a much more subdued pace. She enjoyed her meal too, though. "I'm glad you like it."

"It…is amazing…" Naruto mumbled between bites.

"I'm glad…" The woman smiled in joy.

* * *

><p>A week later, the duo was once again training.<p>

"Sky God's Fist!" Naruto rushed toward April. A combination of black and regular wind danced around his fist. The blonde boy sent a punch at the woman, but the fist was caught.

"Sky Drop." April whispered. The air around Naruto became incredibly heavy. He fell the to the ground in a heap. It felt like the sky itself was pushing on his shoulders.

"You can't just use partial magic like that." April noted as she stood over Naruto. "Trying to combine regular and god sky magic weakens them both. Don't do things by halves. It will get you killed."

"I…know…" Naruto groaned under the force what felt like a mountain. "But…it's the only way I can make it work…"

"Then that means it doesn't work at all." April dropped the pressure. "Your infinity with the wind gives you skill in regular sky magic, but…Sky God Slayer magic is different. It is far more potent and powerful. It is the ability to contain the power of a hurricane into a bottle."

"But…" Naruto pushed himself to his feet. "You're monstrously strong, and you can't use Sky God Slayer magic?"

"It takes a certain type of person to do so." April noted. "You must have absolute control, but an uncontrollable passion. You must be strong as a mountain, but as penetrable as a puddle of water. You must have all the potential in the world, and the drive to use it. I lack all the qualities needed. Only a select few can use regular sky magic. Slayer magic, however, is on a whole different level."

"So what am I missing?" Naruto questioned.

"You'll know when you figure it out." April smiled.

* * *

><p>"April-sensei, how strong are you?" Naruto questioned as he helped his teacher hang up some laundry on the clothesline outside their home.<p>

"Strong enough. Why do you ask?" April gave him a curious glance.

"You are the only mage I have ever met." Naruto stated. "Thus, I don't know the true amount of power most mages have."

"Well, I doubt most mages can keep up with me." April giggled. "I was considered to be one of the strongest of Fairy Tail. Right after the master and the dumbass womanizer, but I think I could have handled Gildarts."

"So you are at the top?" Naruto questioned.

"Yes." April nodded. "I like to think so at least. Of course, there are always people stronger than you."

"And how strong am I? I can't gauge that against you because I can never get close to hurt you." Naruto mentioned.

"Stronger than I was your age." April smiled. "I'm sure you'll surpass me one day."

"Hmm…" Naruto looked at the basket in his hands. "Are you planning on hanging your bras and panties out here?"

"Sure, why not?" April shrugged.

"I can give you plenty of reasons." Naruto rolled his eyes. "First one, if I hand them to you, you'll call me a pervert for touching your underwear."

"Yes, that's going to happen." April nodded.

"Second, when we come back to get them later, you'll call me a pervert. In fact, if I look out the window facing this way at all you'll call me a pervert." Naruto stated.

"That's going to happen too." April laughed.

"Third, most of the panties are embarrassing. Hearts and flowers? Really?"

"Pervert, what are you doing looking at my underwear for?"

"So you're just trying to put me in a situation that will let you tease me?" Naruto sighed.

"Yep." April grinned. "This is the only way that I can get under your skin after all."

* * *

><p>"My answer is no." April stated as she put down her cup of tea onto the kitchen table.<p>

"What?!" The Magic Council representative yelled out in shock. "But you've been summoned?"

"I am no tool for the government." April glared.

"You don't have a choice in the matter!" The representative glared. "They'll have you arrested."

April just laughed.

"What's so funny?!" The man snapped.

"Who would they send?" April noted. "I could mow down almost anyone."

"You…"

"Not the mention the bad publicity they would get from trying to arrest me." April noted. "I can hear the rumors now… 'Why's the Magic Council attacking the innocent Sky Mistress?' 'She's been living alone after that tragedy for years! Now they arrest her for no good reason?!' 'Are they going to do that to everyone they don't like?' Yeah, I'm sure that will go over really well."

"Gah…" The frog man representative of the Magic Council trembled in anger. "Do you not care about the safety of this country?"

"I do, but what they speak of is of no consequence to me or the people of this country." April shrugged.

"It's been two whole years!" The representative jumped from his chair and glared. "Two years since the massive power surges, the biggest of which happened not too far from here! Yet there has not been one consequence, not one thing too out of the ordinary. For all we know, nine bombs could go off at any minute!"

"I doubt that will happen." April shrugged. "Besides, I'm sure what the Magic Council sensed was a glitch."

"You think nine power surges more than powerful enough to level cities…countries…continents…were a glitch?" The representative glared.

"Yes." April maintained a cool look. "After all, no one in this small town saw anything. Nor did anyone else across the country."

"That's not true." The frog man shook his head. "One surge appeared in a desert, and people keep disappearing in there. It has to be related."

"Mabye, maybe not. I don't care, though." April shrugged. "I'm done with my life as a mage. I just want to live in peace now."

"So you don't care at all that one of those surges happened right near Fairy Tail?"

April froze as she raised her tea cup to her mouth. "Did something happen to my old guild?"

"No, but…"

"Then I don't care. You can leave now."

"But…"

"I said get out." April glared. The air pressure in the room began to drop.

"Fine! Fine!" The frog man walked to the front door and walked out. "But I'll be back!"

Slam!

April sighed and went back to her tea.

"Sensei…" Naruto opened the door to his room. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." April nodded from her spot at the table.

"I understand why you hid me…" Naruto walked over to the table and sat down. "If the Magic Council knew about me and when I became your apprentice, they would become suspicious."

"Yes…" April looked tired. "I can't let them take you…"

"Sensei…" Naruto frowned.

"I don't have much, Naruto." April sighed. "And I refuse to lose what little I do have."

"…I know…"

"Naruto…I haven't asked you much about your home out of respect, but…" April stared at him. "I think I need to learn more about what happened and what exactly it means to be a jinchūriki."

* * *

><p>It was close to a month later when something else happened.<p>

"Well, son of a bitch…" An orange haired man with a dark cloak noted as he walked up to April and watched what she was looking at.

"Hello, Gildarts." April did not turn to the man.

"You really did take an apprentice." Gildarts looked shocked. "I thought after everything that happened, you wouldn't want to see a child again."

"…Why are you here?" April questioned as she gazed out to the fields to see Naruto training.

"Master wanted me to check up on you." Gildarts mentioned. "He still gets your letters, but…he worries."

"I know." April nodded. "You can tell him that I'm fine."

"Yeah…I can see that…" Gildarts looked her over. "Are you feeling okay?"

"No worse than usual." April sighed.

"And him? How is this famous Naruto?" Gildarts questioned.

"He is making progress." April noted. "Both magically and emotionally. He is a hurt child."

"And how did he take the new when you told him?" Gildarts questioned.

"…" April was silent.

"You didn't tell him?" Gildarts's eye widened.

"No, I did not wish to worry him." April stated.

"But if it gets worse and then he finds out, all your progress with be for nothing." Gildarts glared.

"I know that, but…" April grabbed her flat stomach. "I just wanted more time. This is always what I wanted...Well, I imagined my husband here too, but."

"I see…" Gildarts sighed. "You know…The guilds got a few children now. A boy named Gray and a girl named Cana. I think there will be more soon too. Being with children his own age…might be good for him."

"I won't be able to get him to leave even if I wanted to." April noted. "I see the way he looks at me. He's not willing to go yet."

"So you're not willing to let go of eachoter." Gildarts nodded. "I understand that, but what happens when you run out of time? He will be alone again."

"What are you saying?"

"Move back to Magnolia." Gildarts suggested. "We've kept your house in shape. That way, you two can stay with each other, he can build bonds with others, and…"

"And father can keep an eye on me." April sighed.

"I wouldn't put it that way…" Gildarts rubbed the back of his head.

"I would." April gained a sad look. "I don't know if I can go back, though. Too many memories."

"I get it." Gildarts nodded. "I'm just saying…if you really think of him as your son, maybe you should think less about what you want and what's best for him. After all, it's our job to look out for the next generation."

"Yes…It is…" April nodded slowly.

* * *

><p>"…What?" Naruto had an alarmed look.<p>

"I'm very ill, Naruto." April explained from across the kitchen table. "I have been ever since I met you."

"But…You never showed any symptoms. You never even coughed or sneezed before." Naruto stated. His voice cracked ever so slightly.

"I'm a sky magic user. I can heal any of the symptoms." April gained a sad look. "But internally, I'm dying. Very slowly. I don't know when, but one day I'll go to sleep and I won't wake up."

"But…But there has to be a way to help you." Naruto clenched his fists. "What disease do you have?"

"It's not a normal disease. It's a consequence of Lost Forbidden Magic." April stated. "That is the consequence I have for my actions as a youth, and now I'm dealing with them."

"Is nothing that can be done? We use magic, for Kami's sake." Naruto argued. "There must be a way to stop it."

"I've looked, Naruto. There isn't." April stated. "I accepted my fate a long time ago."

"But…"

"Until recently that is." April noted. "Lately, I've been resentful of my illness because…I'm not ready to die. I don't want to leave you yet."

"You don't have to." Naruto stood. "I'll heal you. Sky God Slayer magic is one of the most potent healing magics in the world, right? With enough energy, it can heal almost any wound or illness. When I master Sky God Slayer magic, I'll heal you."

"Naruto, we don't have that kind of time." April stated.

"Then I'll do it now." Naruto argued. "I've been practicing for over a year. I know I can help you."

"No you can't Naruto." April shook her head. "You still need practice, and that will take time. At best, I probably have a year."

"I can do it by then." Naruto reasoned.

"Perhaps. Perhaps not." April smiled. "Either way, we're moving."

"What?" Naruto questioned.

"We're going to Magnolia." April stated. "We're going to live there, and you're going to join Fairy Tail."

"I don't want to join a guild." Naruto mentioned. "I want to stay here and live in peace."

"I do too, but…this is for the best." April took a shakey breath. "That way, you can have friends around you when I pass."

"No you won't!" Naruto actually roared. "I won't let that happen. I promise you, I'll heal you. That's a promise of a lifetime."

"Naruto." April felt tears in her eyes.

"I won't lose you…" Naruto walked over to her. He reached out slowly and grabbed his shoulders awkwardly. "I'll go with you to Magnolia, but you have to keep fighting, because I will heal you-"

April pulled him into a hug. "Thank you."

"…Don't mention it."

* * *

><p>'<strong>Kit…You know you suck at healing.<strong>' Kurama noted a few days later. They hadn't moved yet. They were sill packing and prepping for the trip. It was late now, but Naruto wasn't at home. He was on his usual hill that overlooked everything. '**How do you plan to get good enough at it to heal an incurable disease?**'

'I practice and train my ass off.' Naruto mentioned. 'It doesn't matter how long it takes or how much work I have to put into it. I won't lose her.'

'…**You really care for her, huh?**' Kurama questioned.

'I do…'

'**Hehehe…You're different now.**' Kurama laughed. '**Actually caring about someone. I never thought I would see the day.**'

'I suppose even I am human.' Naruto argued.

'**I suppose you are. I don't know if I should be relieved or disappointed.'** Kurama stated. '**But you're still pretty much a heartless bastard to everyone else, so it's a small change. Not like you're going around screaming about the power of love, or some hippy shit like that.**'

'No…it's not.' Naruto nodded. He paused and looked up from his book. He smelled smoke.

Down below in town, he saw a dull blaze that slowly began to grow. As this happened, smoke rose from the burning buildings.

"What happened?" Naruto questioned as he jumped to his feet.

"There! A boy! Grab him!" Naruto heard a voice yell.

"He'll be a good slave!"

"For the cult of Zeref and the return of our master!"

Naruto saw a group of robed individuals running at him. The all head weapons and creepy looks on their faces.

"Sky Drill!" A tornado appeared around the group of men. The cultists were sent flying away into the forest. "Naruto!"

"April-sensei, what's happening?" Naruto questioned as he ran up to his teacher at the bottom of the hill.

"These cultists are attacking the town." April noted.

"Why?" Naruto asked.

"They're gathering slaves." April stated. "I've heard of these guys. They raid town and take people as slaves. No one knows why, but they leave destruction in their wake. We need to stop them. You go down to the town and help the people."

"What about you?"

"I'm going to deal with another problem."

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you all for reading and please remember to...<strong>

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	5. My Enemy

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 5: "My Enemy"

(Year: X776)

Despite everything he despised about Konoha, there was one single thing Naruto did miss about his homeland. It was something he thought about occasionally, but those thoughts were quickly dismissed by the knowledge of his gained freedom. One small thing was not worth everything the boy went through at his home world.

Nevertheless, Naruto felt his blood begin to pump faster and his adrenaline begin to surge as he rushed into battle. As the boy ran up to a man with a spear, flipped over the attack, and kicked the cultist in the face, Naruto felt excitement for the first time in over two years. Sure, he still trained and sparred against April for that time, but that was not true combat. This was real fighting, and Naruto was a natural at it.

It was like riding a bike. He couldn't forget even if he wanted to. Even outnumbered, his trained body ducked and weaved out of the way of swinging spears and deadly blasts of magic. Through all of this, Naruto allowed the smallest of smiles grace his face. He felt at ease and at home. This was his element.

"Sky Shot!" Naruto sent a blast of air that hit a cultist in the chest. This caused the man to go flying back. He landed into a wall and crumbled to the ground unconscious.

The town was burning. Fires were spreading everywhere. Bleeding unconscious bodies and bleeding corpses were spread across the ground. Some of them were the townspeople. Some of them were cultists defeated by Naruto.

To almost every other twelve year old this would be devastating. There was so much blood. So many different people were injured, dying, or dead. Any normal human being would be feeling physically ill at this point.

Naruto was still smiling lightly.

This was his element. Naruto was raised in the art of war. Before he came to this world, the blonde was trained to be a soldier his entire life. Through constant training, beatings, and missions, he had long since hardened to this kind of carnage. It was part of who he was. This was what he was raised to live with.

Even though these were people Naruto had known for two years, he didn't so much as flinch at their wounds and deaths.

That lady over there crying in the corner once had Naruto heal her sick dog. An old man bleeding on the ground had told Naruto countless stories about the elder man's life. And Conner-san, the farmer that liked to tease Naruto, was lying dead before him.

Naruto stepped over his body without hesitation.

There was no more hope for the dead. It would be pointless to put thought into them right now. The boy still needed to think a bit about the wounded, though.

Through his adrenaline rush, Naruto's abilities with Sky magic rocketed. As he passed the injured people, Naruto idly healed them as he passed. He did not close the wound completely, but he healed them enough so that the injured people didn't die immediately. That was all he could do right now, and it was enough so that he wouldn't get an earful from April later.

Hearing shouts and sounds of combat not too far away, Naruto began to walk in that direction. His body tingled with pleasure. He was about to fight again. He didn't even realize how much he missed this until now.

Stepping over the bodies, Naruto continued his trek. It was time to fight once again.

* * *

><p>April wanted to go help the townspeople. She really did. There wouldn't be a point to that, though, if she saved half the town only for the other half to be completely leveled to the ground. Besides, she entrusted the village to Naruto. Thus, she walked to the edge of the nearby forest and waited. He would be coming soon.<p>

"So this is where you were hiding all this time, eh? In this pathetic dingy town?" A man's voice appeared to April's left.

The woman turned to the man she hated most in this world. "Hiding? Perhaps. But not from you, teme. I have been hiding from my past."

"And do I not exist in your past, Kazen?...Wait, that's your name now, right? I remember that you used to have a different last name before you got married." The man crossed his arms. His thick hairy forearms were on display.

"Are you mocking me?" April glared. The wind picked up around her. "You very well know that's my name now. It's the name of one of the few people that beat you."

"But at a great cost, no?" The man noted. He looked down his hooked nose at her. His long pony tail trailed behind him. "I did kill your husband, right? Now his name, I don't remember. But you…After our fight I researched you. April Kazen, once April Senju, the greatest sky magic user in the country. One of the aces of Fairy Tail. Well known for her heavenly beauty and hellish strength. A true monster."

April merely glared at the man.

"After all these years…After all this time since our first fight, tell me…Can you still fly?"

"I don't know Bluenote Stinger. You tell me!" April shouted. "Sky Updraft!"

"Fall!" Bluenote shouted.

Two forces collided in that instant. One was the unfightable power of gravity pushing down with enough force to make the very earth crumple and bow. The other force was that of a dozen tornadoes pushing up against the sky defiantly and saying that the wind had no limits in this world.

Magic flared around as the two spells clashed. Gravity and the sky fought against each other. The forest to the side of them tumbled. The earth below them crumbled. Everything around them fled.

Crack! Crash! Swoosh!

The two forces canceled each other out and caused a massive backlash to spread across the area around the two fighters. April and Bluenote were left surrounded by a miniature wasteland. Despite the destruction, the fighters did not turn away from the other. They were too dangerous to be taken any other way other than seriously.

"You've gotten better." April noted with a glared.

"And you've gotten weaker." Bluenote smirked. "That means I'm going to win this."

April decided not to argue. While it wasn't that big of a difference, April was not in her prime. The illness took a bit of a toll from her. That did not mean that she would take his insults lying down. "You think you can win, monkey? Fool. My element is the sky. My element is an alive force that causes the very heavens to shake. My element allows me to fly."

"You!" Bluenote's eyes flared in angle.

"And today, Bluenote…" April was lifted up into the air as the sky swirled around her. "You are going to fall."

* * *

><p>"What the hell are you!?" The bald cultist exclaimed in fear.<p>

"A shinobi." Naruto still held that small smile on his face even as he brought his elbow down and shattered the cultist's arm.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" The cultist screamed, clutched his broken arm, and fell to the ground in pain.

"Shut up." Naruto did an axe kick to the back of the cultist's head and knocked him out.

'**Damn, Kit. I forgot how brutal you are to your enemies.**' Kurama grinned from behind his cage. '**I love it. Do more.**'

'Luckily, there's more of them in the town.' Naruto mentally noted.

The whiskered boy begin to move through the village. He went to the place where he heard more screams. These cultists were fools. They had the tiniest bit of power, so they thought they were invincible. What they lacked, however, was skill.

Well, Naruto had both more skill and power than any of the cultists. He could take them down with ease. It felt just like those old assassination days.

'**Reminiscing, Naruto?**' Kurama barked out a laugh. '**You sound like an old man.**'

'Perhaps I have an old soul.' Naruto suggested.

'**That, or perhaps peace doesn't suit you as much as you would like to think.**' Kurama mentioned.

'Hmm. That may very well be true.' Naruto admitted. 'Perhaps being a mage won't be such a bad thing. At least I'll be able to go on jobs and missions. I can have real challenges to test my Sky God Slayer magic...or at least something to make it work right.'

'**There you go, Naruto! The glass is half full and all that shit.**' Kurama chuckled.

Naruto ignored that comment. Instead, he focused on his next fight. How would he break the next cultist? A shattered knee was always effective. Of course, a quick knock out would work too, but what would happen if they suddenly woke up and ran away? At least with a broken knee would make sure they couldn't do anymore harm.

Crack! Crash! Swoosh!

Naruto channeled chakra through his feet so he wouldn't be sent flying. The ground below him rumbled. A shockwave spread through the village. Air rushed pass the whiskered teen. It was like an explosion went off.

Then it stopped.

Naruto stopped covering his eyes. That was an effect of extremely powerful magic. He recognized one of those magical signals. April was fighting. Not only that, she was fighting without holding back.

What did that speak for her enemy? How powerful was this threat?

Another shockwave went off. Then another followed. This continued as several shockwaves blasted through the area.

Naruto turned to where the waves of energy originated. That was a high scaled battle. This was something that was far beyond him. April and her opponent were certainly monsters that he couldn't even hope to lift a finger against. It was a battle that Naruto should in no way be a part of right now.

For some reason, though, Naruto could no longer focus on the pathetic cultists that kept falling before him.

* * *

><p>April rushed in to meet the pony-tailed man. Four narrow tornadoes danced around her. She had long since used her support magic to increase her body's endurance. While they were close magically, April would admit that Bluenote had more physical force than she did. Her magic would make sure that did not matter.<p>

The gruff man pushed the tornadoes away with a wave of his hand. The gravity stopped the tornadoes, but it did not stop April. The blonde woman continued to rush in with a guard raised. She sent a jab. Bluenote blocked with a forearm and grimaced in a bit of pain.

The man then sent a hook at the smaller human's body. He made sure to push gravity magic behind it for an extra effect. April ducked under the attack and avoided it all together. She then tried to punch the man's ribs.

Bluenote caught this attack with the hand that he did not use to attack. He felt his bones ache under the pressure of her punch. The gravity magic user did not let go, though. Instead, he used his magic and tried to hit her with a wave of gravity.

The force of the attack caused the ground to jump in the air, but it did not hit April. The woman had broken his hold and moved back before the wave of gravity could hit her. She also managed to dodge the boulders that rose into the air.

With dust and rocks stopping them from seeing each other, both combatants were blinded. April, however, knew Bluenote's location. She could use that.

"Sky…" April brought her arms to her side and gathered a whirlwind of energy in her palms. The power of a hurricane was contained in her hands. The woman then spread her arms forward and yelled out. "SPEAR!"

Unlike Naruto's Sky Spear, April's attack was not a straight vortex the width of an arm. Nope. April's attack was about twenty times bigger and more powerful than that. The massive vortex shot straight forward through the dust and earth. It then then hit Bluenote.

The man, however, was not harmed. He used his gravity to block the attack at the last possible second. The wind was stopped right in front of him, but it did fling dust in his eyes. Thus, he was once again blinded.

This could explain how April got so close to him while he was blocking the wind. It also explained how Bluenote was hit with a powerful sidekick to his ribs.

"Gack!" Bluenote spit out blood and held his side.

"Huff…How do…pant…you like…huff…that?" April felt exhausted and drained. Her stamina was depleted. The illness had taken far more from her than she originally thought.

"Guh…" Bluenote straightened up. "Excellent move…but all that work seems to have exhausted you, eh?"

"Nonsense…" April glared at him.

"Oh?" Bluenote held out a hand. "Push."

April barely managed to put up a shield made of wind. Even then, it wasn't enough. It blocked most of the blow, but it did not stop the attack completely. The force hit April and sent her rolling back.

"Ack…" April pushed herself up.

"You have injured me more than I thought anyone besides my master could. Even now, you still manage to fight as my equal. You truly can fly." Bluenote wiped the blood from his mouth. "But that is changing. You are falling."

"…" April glared at the man.

"I didn't come here to kill you, Kazen." Bluenote noted. "You spared me, after all."

"Not on my own will." April growled. "I was attempting to kill you mercilessly. If Master did not show up and you didn't run…"

"Still, there are so few people in this world that can fly. Why would I try to clip the wings of one of the few flying birds?" Bluenote noted.

"What do you want, then?" April questioned.

"I want your notes on Sky God Slayer magic." Bluenote stated. "Or more precisely, my master does. He thought this little invasion would enough of a distraction so that I would go unnoticed."

"Well, he can suck donkey balls!" April snapped. "I don't have that book anymore."

"You don't?"

"No, I gave it away. Even if you check my home, you will find nothing." April looked smug. It was true. Naruto kept that book with him always in his Requip space.

"…You're telling the truth. I can see it in your eyes. Tell me, who has that book now?" Bluenote demanded.

"I'd rather die than tell you that." April glared.

Bluenote sighed. "Unfortunately, that's the backup plan. Master's orders of course. If we can't gain your research, you're no use to us. I could try to capture you and get you to tell us your secrets, but I doubt you would tell."

"Damn right I won't."

"It's a shame." Bluenote noted. "In that book is the most detailed descriptions of every sky magic available. Not only that…Master seems to think that it holds something else. Something more. Something secret. Is it true?"

"You know that I won't tell you anything about that book." April glared.

"I know…It's too bad. I would have wished to fight you again." Bluenote sighed. "Now the Sky Mistress must fall."

* * *

><p>Naruto had a bad feeling. That was not natural to him. There was no logic or reasoning to it. For some reason, Naruto had a gut instinct that something was going wrong.<p>

In all of his life, Naruto had never had such a feeling of dread. Despite having no real knowledge either way of what was happening, the whiskered boy somehow knew that April needed help. He didn't know how he knew, but he sure as hell knew.

Thus, Naruto began to run to where April was fighting. He ignored the burning buildings, injured civilians, and evil cultists. The sound of Kurama's warnings in his mind fell on deaf ears. Naruto could focus on nothing else other than getting to April.

"O swift wind that dashes through the heavens! Verneir!" Naruto shouted. His magic swirled around him. His speed was drastically increased.

The blonde became a blur as he ran through the village. He was forced to jump and dodge the debris and people to avoid being tripped up. Naruto even jumped to the roof for a brief time, despite the flames. He didn't care about his injuries. Such things did not matter to him.

While he was going, Naruto failed to realize something. In any other moment, it would have been extremely important to him. Usually, the whiskered shinobi sucked at enhancement magic. Now, he used it with ease.

'Hang on April-sensei!'

* * *

><p>"Ack!" April grunted in pain. Once again, she managed to block Bluenote's attack, but she could feel her body ache from the pain and pressure of the attack.<p>

The woman did not back down, though. She extended her arms out widely. She brought them together and clapped her hands. "Sky Breaker!"

The air around Bluenote's head twisted. Two twin forces of wind smashed against the man's head. Bluenote shouted in pain and clutched his aching head. He then bent over and stumbled. This was a desperate attempt to regain his equilibrium and not fall over.

The blonde quickly took advantage of this. She jumped into the air and flipped. April then came crashing down at break neck speeds. The wind wrapped around her right leg as she brought it down. Her target was the back of Bluenote's neck. She was going to decapitate him. "Sky Guillotine!"

April's wind was definitely sharp enough to cut the man in half. Even when she was within a foot of hitting the man, a small cut appeared on the man's neck. A trickle of blood ran down from the small wound.

At the last possible second, Bluenote flipped over. He brought his legs up and kicked the woman away from him before her attack could do any real damage. With the added gravity magic behind it, the kick landed in April's side and sent her flying off to the side.

The woman tried to force herself up, but she found that was not possible to get up from her knees. Her arms were numb. Her legs were aching. Her body was too ill, tired, and beaten to do any more.

"Gack!" April chocked as blood ran up her throat and out her mouth. She lurched forward and spit the blood out on the ground in front of her. She clenched her eyes shut momentarily as her body ached in pain. It wasn't a long moment, but it was more than enough for Bluenote.

Looking up, the blonde saw her opponent standing right in front of her. His look was a solemn one. He showed no pity or anger. It was a look of cold resolve.

April tried to attack. Using all her willpower, she shoved an arm forward. "Sky-"

Bluenote slapped the hand away. Wind rushed past his body and created a deep crater behind him. The man was uninjured, though. "Nice try."

Bluenote placed a palm on her face. He could still see her blue eyes. Most people would have eyes filled with terror. April's eyes only showed defiance, though. This only increased Bluenote's respect for the woman.

"Push."

The force of the gravity magic that rammed into April's face and body was unbelievable. April had her fair share of injuries in her lifetime. This, however, was different. Her bones shattered. Blood vessels popped. Major organs shifted and twisted.

April was sent flying back. Her body was flung like a rag doll. She landed and rolled a few times before coming to a halt with her on her back. Her body lie there broken and unmoving.

* * *

><p>"What the hell?" Naruto ran face first into an invisible wall. He stumbled back and regained his bearings.<p>

A wall of air stood before him. After Naruto made contact with the wall, it became visible. It reached up high into the sky. It spread out wide enough that it would take Naruto several minutes to get around it.

This must be why the shockwaves stopped. April must have discretely put this shield up during her fight in order to prevent the shockwaves from hurting the people of the village. Either that, or it was meant to stop people from getting close. It was meant to keep Naruto from getting close.

The whiskered boy did not have time to go around and there was no way to jump over the wall. He would have to go through it. Placing his hands on the shield, Naruto tried to distort the sky magic wall. It did not work.

April's skill was far above his in every way. It would take hours for him to take something so advanced like this. It also appeared that the wall was self-sustaining. Even if something happened to April, the wall would not fall until the magic put into it was used up. Thus, there was no way for a normal sky magic user to get through.

'I'm not normal, though.' Naruto glared at the wall.

It was then that Naruto opened his jaw widely. He lunged forward to the wall and bit it. His teeth sunk into the wall of wind. The piece of the sky shimmered and danced around him

Pulling back, Naruto began to swallow. Wind rushed down his throat. Usually, that would be for breathing. This time, however, the air went to his stomach.

Air continued to be gathered around the whiskered boy's mouth. He swallowed as much as he could and as quickly as possible. This lasted for a few seconds until Naruto stopped the flow by biting down on the wind flowing into his mouth.

With the pull stopped, the wind returned to the wall. This time, however, there was a hole. It was bigger than Naruto. The shinobi could get through with ease.

'**Naruto, did you just…**' Kurama was gob smacked. While he knew that slayer magic allowed people to eat their element as long as it didn't originate from the slayer, the Biju still didn't really believe it. Was it really possible to eat the sky like that?

Naruto ignored Kurama. He jumped through the hole in the sky wall before it could close. The boy then continued his run to April.

He was almost there.

* * *

><p>Bluenote stared at the body. He was prepared in case she started moving again and attacked him. Logically, that was impossible. He put enough force in that attack to take down a castle wall. Nevertheless, he was careful. April Kazen was not a woman who would go down easily.<p>

After a few moments, though, Bluenote got closer and looked at the body. It was not moving and not breathing. She was dead.

"And so another one falls." Bluenote looked up to the cloudy sky. "Even those who can fly cannot touch the sky forever."

Stepping away from the body, Bluenote turned back to the forest. His mission was over. He could go search in her home, but it would probably be pointless. Kazen wasn't a liar, and he was. If Master Hades asked about it, Bluenote would say that he searched her home.

Right now, though, Bluenote was tired and wounded. He just wished to go have a drink. Perhaps he would make a toast for April. She was one of the few people in this world that actually pushed him after all.

The man began to walk. The edge of the forest was destroyed, but there were still trees in deeper. Once he was in cover, Bluenote would allow himself to relax a bit.

Wait. Something was coming at him. Whirling around, Bluenote saw a twelve year old boy running up to him at incredible speeds. In the boy's hand was a knife of some kind. It was pointed at his neck.

Bluenote grabbed the boy's wrist and stopped the stabbing motion. He was then forced to block a knee strike with his other hand. The man thought he was safe for a brief moment until he saw another knife sticking to the bottom of the boy's free foot.

Not wanting to be stabbed, Bluenote shoved the boy back with a bit of gravity magic. The force sent the whiskered boy flying back. Strangely enough, he landed on his feet.

"You…" The blonde glared at him. He then put his arms at his sides. He gathered wind around his palms and thrusted them forward. "Sky Spear!"

A straight vortex of wind shot at Bluenote. It was a lot smaller and slower than April's Sky Spear, but it was the same technique for sure. Unlike April's attack, though, Bluenote could swat this spear away with the back of his hand.

'**Kit! Don't fight this man!**' Kurama roared in Naruto's mind. '**You aren't in his league! You'll die!**'

'But…' Naruto's eyes darted over to April's unmoving body for the briefest of seconds.

"You…" Bluenote stared at the boy. "Kazen took an apprentice."

"…She did…" Naruto glared at him. Kurama was right. He could not fight this man and win. The monkey man beat April, and she was far better at combat than Naruto.

"Interesting…" Bluenote had a curious look. "Tell me…do you think you can fly one day?"

"What kind of question is that?" Naruto asked.

"A serious one. Answer it, or I'll kill you." Bluenote had a serious look on his face.

"…I don't know about flying, but I will tell you this…" Naruto clenched his fists. "One day I will reach up and touch the sky with these hands."

Bluenote gained a smile on his face. He began to chuckle lightly. "Now that…is an excellent answer. Maybe one day you will be a challenge to me. Out of respect to her, I'll spare you today. My name is Bluenote Stinger. Who are you?"

"Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto glared.

"Uzumaki…" Bluenote turned. "I'll remember that, and I'll look forward to the day you attempt to kill me. You'll fail, but it will still be interesting."

Bluenote began to walk away. Naruto did nothing to stop him. If he tried anything, then the man would kill him. That much was certain. So, Naruto did the only thing he could. He ran over to April and began to try and heal her.

* * *

><p>"How interesting…" Bluenote noted as he moved through the forest. "That boy looked a bit like her with his hair and eyes. I heard she once tried Life Make magic from Master. Did she succeed?"<p>

It was unlikely. That spell could not be done by normal mages. Gods like Zeref could do it with demons, and Master Hades could kind of do it a little bit. April, however, lacked the darkness for such a thing. Perhaps the similar appearances was a coincidence.

Either way, April did have an apprentice. That means she was teaching him. Could she have possibly given him that book? It was possible, but Bluenote did not care to investigate. He would leave the boy out of his report. Hades did not need to know about him yet.

The boy…Uzumaki would need something to make him stronger. If he had the book, then he had all the keys needed to surpass April. And if he did that…perhaps, Bluenote would have a challenge once again.

Bluenote smiled. "I do believe things are going to be a lot more interesting in the future."

* * *

><p>"Gah…" April's bruised eyes fluttered open. "Naruto?"<p>

"April-sensei." Naruto gained a relieved look. He had been using his healing magic on her. "You're awake."

"Yeah…Where did Bluenote go?" April questioned.

"He left." Naruto turned his attention back to his healing work. "Don't worry. I'm fine, and you will be soon."

"Naruto…" Blood dripped from April's mouth. "My internal organs…"

"I'll heal them. Just save your strength." Naruto insisted.

April moved her hand up and cupped his cheek gently. "Look at me, Naruto."

"I need to keep focused."

"Look at me." She ordered.

Naruto obeyed.

"Oh…" Tears appeared in her eyes. "I always hoped that he would look like you."

"April-sensei?" Naruto was confused.

"Why must you call me that…Have I not been a mother to you, Ar…Naruto." April questioned.

"What?" What did she try to call him?

"I wish…I had more time." April noted. "I wanted to…see you smile more…I would help you…gain a bit of humanity…And I wanted…to be there when you fell in love…Then you would get married…And I would get grandchildren…"

"April-sensei…" Naruto frowned at her.

"Don't…call me…that…" April demanded. "Call me, Kaa-san…"

Naruto was shocked into silence.

"Is…that too much to ask…" April cried. "I always wanted to be a mom…Is that such a bad thing?"

"No…I don't believe so…" Naruto shook his head. "You would have made…you are a great mother."

April gave him a smile. "Thank…you…"

They were silent for a moment. Naruto had an emotionless face while April was crying.

"In…my study…is my will." April spoke again. "Follow it…please…"

Naruto was silent.

"And I need to tell you…Why I always…believed you…I know about everything…" April noted. "Azura…She's…She's…"

"She's what?"

"…Nothing." April shook her head. "Look…in the…book."

"The book?"

"Yes. Be…strong, Naruto…find friends…smile more…and remember your dream…Don't forget it…" April pull him close and hugged him. "And…I love you, Naruto."

Her arms went slack.

"April-sensei..."

He sat up and looked at her closed eyes and peaceful expression.

"April?"

April was dead.

"Kaa-san?"

* * *

><p>"We got everyone." One of the cultists sneered at the cages of people. They were all sobbing.<p>

"What happened to these guys, though?" Another cultist looked down at the unconscious bodies of the cultists that fought Naruto.

"No way a civilian could do this." A third cultist spoke up. "Is a mage here?"

"Why would he do this to a few of us and run off, though?" The first cultist questioned. "We still got these slaves."

"Maybe one of the unconscious guys killed him." The second cultist spoke.

"I guess, but-"

A small noise sounded out. It was the sound of brick being dug into and cracked. The sound was coming from down the road.

The three cultists that were speaking, the other dozen men that were with them, and the people in cages turned to the noise. They saw Naruto. He was walking by the houses and dragging his hand across the walls. His fingers dug into the wall and left five scratches in his wake.

"Hey, you left a brat!" A cultist yelled out.

"I got him…" A fat cultist grumbled and lifted up his spear. He walked towards Naruto and pointed his spear at the blonde. "Don't move, or you're dead, brat."

"I understand now." Naruto's head was bent over. His spike hair hid his features. "This is what I felt at the masked man…"

"Hey! I said not to move!" The fat man rushed forward with his spear.

"Sky God's Strike." Naruto mumbled. Black wind whirled around his fist. He dodged the cultist's stab and back fisted the man. The fat man was sent flying into the house on the other side of the road.

Naruto then stopped dragging his hand behind him on the wall and opened his fist. The revealed his clawed hands.

"What the hell?!"

"He must be the mage that hurt our comrades!"

"Well, we outnumber him! Let's kill him!"

"When I looked at that man…I felt a twinge of anger." Naruto lifted his head up a little. This revealed his deeper whisker marks and sharp teeth. "That was nothing, though. Compared to this. This…This is real emotion. I thought it was pointless before…But I see the point now…"

The cultists all rushed at Naruto. Magic seals formed around them as they prepared their spells. They were sure that all together, their attacks would kill the boy.

They froze when Naruto looked up completely and showed them his red slitted demon eyes.

"I get it now. Emotions explain the situation when logic can't…" Naruto glared at them. "But I don't feel sad or even angry. No, I feel…hatred. I…I hate all of you."

Black wind twirled around Naruto's whole body. A miniature hurricane danced around him and hugged him close. He looked like an all-powerful demon to the cultists.

"Are you…" One of the cultist's trembled. "Are you a demon of Zeref?"

"No…I'm just the guy that hates you…and is going to kill you!" Naruto roared. He took a deep breath and gathered magic into his stomach. "Sky God's Bellow!"

Naruto's breath attack came out like a black whirlwind of energy. The hurricane hit most of the cultists and defeated them instantly. A few of them remained, though. That was a good thing, though, because Naruto was not done yet.

"Sky God's…" Naruto gathered black wind around the hands at his sides. He thrusted them forward. "Spear!"

The straight vortex beam was larger and more powerful than the one he sent at Bluenote. This one was about half the size of the boy. When it hit two of the remaining cultists, they were sent flying into the houses down the road.

The last cultist realized his situation. He fell back on his butt in fear. His spear was now out of his hands, and he was defenseless. "P-please! H-have mercy!"

"Mercy?" The red eyed boy walked up to the man. He kicked the cultists and held him down with a foot. "Do you even know such a word?"

"D-don't k-kill me!" The man pleaded.

"Oh, I'm going to kill you." Naruto gave him a small smile. It made him look even more demonic. Hey, April did say to smile more. "The only question is how painful will your death be?"

"N-no!"

Naruto's right hand straightened. Black wind wrapped around his arm and formed a spinning drill. "Sky God's Sword."

The blonde held the drill like sword to the cultist's throat. "Who is Bluenote Stinger and why were you working with him?"

"B-Bluenote?" The cultist trembled. "I-I don't know much. We were told to come here. Apparently, there's a monster that lived by here, but our anonymous benefactor said he would send his own monster to kill it for us."

"I see…So he was supporting you…" Naruto growled. "The cult of Zeref…He supports Zeref…"

"P-please let me go…" The man whimpered.

"No." Naruto raised the drill of wind and then plunged it into the man's chest.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!" The cultist screamed in pain as he was impaled. His chest was torn open as the wind sliced his skin apart. When Naruto stopped and pulled him arm out, all that was left in the man's chest was a gaping hole.

Turning away from the corpse, Naruto walked to the cage of prisoners. They were all covering their ears and had their eyes shut in terror. When he passed the cage, Naruto grabbed the door and ripped it off its hinges. He did not speak to them as he walked away. He did not care about them.

"W-wait! Nii-san!" Sora's voice called out.

Naruto stopped his walk. He looked over his shoulder dully. "I'm not your brother."

"Ah…" The girl teared up. "T-thank you! You saved us! Don't worry! We won't tell anyone on you!"

"Like I care…" Naruto looked away and began walking again.

He didn't look back.

* * *

><p>Naruto looked down at the grave. He had buried April behind their home. Using his magic, Naruto carved her name into a makeshift gravestone.<p>

April Kazen: A Loving Mother and Mage of Fairy Tail

The whiskered preteen sat on his knees in front of his grave. He had been sitting here for a long time. Most of his demonic features faded as his anger dwindled away into grief. His eyes did not change back, though. The red eyes stayed on his face.

'**Kit…are you okay?**' Kurama questioned.

'No, I'm not.' Naruto growled mentally.

'**You're subconsciously channeling a bit of my chakra into your eyes.**' Kurama noted. '**As long as you hold on to this hatred, you'll keep doing it. Do you want me to cut off the connection?**'

'I don't care. Just leave it.' Naruto mentioned. 'You shouldn't be put out because I decided to start feeling.'

'…**I'm sorry, Naruto. I know you cared for her.**' Kurama mentioned.

'Thank you, Kurama.' Naruto closed his eyes.

It hurt. April was the only human Naruto ever cared for. She was kind and cared for him without asking for anything in return. Now, she was gone. She was taken away from him by Bluenote…by the people that followed Zeref…

April was gone and Naruto would never see her again.

Naruto felt something hot and wet run down his face. When he investigated what it was, Naruto found that it was tears. Wiping one of the tears away, Naruto peered at it while letting the rest of them fall.

It had been a long time since Naruto last cried. He was never allowed to cry when he was a toddler. Crying would ensure punishment. The boy quickly learned that it was better just to stop crying. It led to less pain.

Now, though, the pain was too much.

"April…Kaa-san…" Naruto looked down at the grave. "I'll miss you."

Wiping his tears, Naruto looked up to the sky. He reached out. The sky was there. It seemed even more prevalent than ever. It now stood bright before him. At the same time, though, it seemed further away than ever.

Pulling his hand back, Naruto formed a fist. He stared at it.

_"Also…as a god slayer, you will be tasked with slaying those who call themselves gods." Azura noted. "I cannot tell you who your enemy is, but you will find out soon enough. Your enemy shall make himself known to you."_

Those were some of Azura's last words to him. They always stuck out in his brain. He always wondered why she said that. Naruto never really intended to make enemies, but…

"_Yes. Be…strong, Naruto…find friends…smile more…and remember your dream…Don't forget it…" April pull him close and hugged him. "And…I love you, Naruto."_

Bluenote took April away from him. The worshipers of Zeref took April away from him. Zeref took April away from him. Zeref was a god in the eyes of many. Naruto was a Godslayer.

He now understood everything. There was a reason why Azura wanted to bring him here. He always knew that there would be a catch. The boy just wanted to be free from Konoha so that didn't matter to him. Now, though, it meant the world to him.

Naruto's red eyes gleamed in anger and grief. Black wind began to swirl around him. "My enemy is…Zeref."

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you for reading and please remember to…<strong>

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	6. Last Message

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 6: "Last Message"

(Year: X777)

Naruto decided that he enjoyed trains. They were very convenient in order to get to your destination, and they conserved energy. Thus, the now thirteen year old had a lot of free time to kill. When this happened, Naruto would train, read, or watch the sky.

Of course, Naruto couldn't do any training on the train. That was something he found rather humorous and ironic. He couldn't train on the train because his Sky God Slayer magic would tear his compartment apart.

Thus, Naruto was left with his other two pastimes. It was a beautiful day, but when Naruto watched the sky, he tended to think about confusing things. He did not want to do that now, at least with the difficult situation was coming up. So, the whiskered teen was left with reading, and, like it had always been the past couple of months, the god slayer only had two things he wanted to read.

He had long since lost count of how many times he read through April's book of notes. Even before her death, he spent hours upon hours peering into that book. Before, it was to learn more about Sky God Slayer magic. Now, though, he continued to look for any secret he could find in that book.

Yet, there was nothing there.

April said before her death to look in the book, but Naruto had yet to find out what she wanted him to find. He tried everything he could think of. Magic, special ink, and even trying to decode the pages did nothing. This didn't stop him from trying to figure out what secret this book held, but he needed a clue to figure out what to do.

Putting that book in his Requip space, Naruto pulled out his other reading material. The boy was sure that he read through April's will more times than even the book. Granted, it took a lot less time, but Naruto did read each part of the will carefully after retrieving it from April's study.

His teacher left him everything. The house, her money, and all her books were all his now. Naruto was grateful he had so much left to remember her. Although he didn't plan to stay there a lot, he was also grateful to have a home to go to.

Besides this, though, April left him instructions to follow. Some of them were simple such as taking care of her garden and to make sure to eat right. Other things were far more complicated. Naruto never knew that April had so many different friends that she wanted to know about her passing. The boy had to deal with a lot of people crying.

Naruto was not good with crying people.

There were other things as well. They were complicated things that Naruto wasn't sure that he wanted to do. Nevertheless, Naruto knew he would have to try and complete all of them at some point…except for one…

Unfortunately, Naruto was not allowed to start on doing the tasks left to him by April right after her death. It turned out that Magic Council was interested in one of the few times that the cult of Zeref failed to complete their kidnapping attempts. They investigated the incident heavily and interrogated the citizens including Naruto.

The whiskered boy was glad that none of the people told the Council representatives and Rune Knights about his involvement. It would be bad if they were suddenly aware that April Kazen had an apprentice god slayer that murdered all the cultists. Luckily, he was quickly overlooked as a simple boy and even made an effort to hide his hair, whisker marks, and red eyes from the authorities so they couldn't identify him later. It was quite simple to hide his features when Naruto used a henge and acted like a simple mourning boy.

Naruto did note that the Rune Knights searched April's home. Luckily, Naruto already took everything of importance out of the building. Thus, after their search turned up nothing, the knights left the town all together. The people of Trafalgar was left to rebuild…or to leave the area all together. The teen wasn't sure which they do considering all the people that died there.

He didn't care what they did, though. As soon as the knights left, so did Naruto. He went to follow April's instructions. The whiskered teen traveled across Fiore. Nothing very notable happened in those few months. Most of the time was spent informing old frineds of Aprils death, returning borrowed books and items, and even repaying old favors.

As he traveled, Naruto continued to hone his magic. It was strange how natural it was now, and he felt the need to use it. Luckily, there was no shortage of Dark Guilds. He could beat up on them however much he wanted. In order to avoid drawing too much attention, he made sure to keep them alive, though. The teen even felt nice enough to contact some authorities anonymously so they could arrest the dark mages.

This wasn't just done for amusement and training, though. Naruto was also searching for information. He was looking for anything on the cult of Zeref, Bluenote, or even the Black Mage Zeref himself. Nothing turned up for the two later subjects, but there were whispers about the cult.

The Tower of Heaven was something Naruto heard a lot. It was something the cultists were building. They were using slaves in order to build it too. So that was why they were trying to abduct people from Trafalgar. It made sense, but that did not mean that Naruto liked the idea. As a strong believer of freedom, Naruto was appalled by the idea of slavery. It disgusted him. So, while he really didn't give a damn about the people, Naruto decided that the Tower of Heaven had to go.

Just as he got close to finding it, though, Naruto found out something strange. Someone beat him to the punch. The cult of Zeref and the Tower of Heaven seemed to hit a snag when the slaves revolted. It seems that the desire for freedom caused them to lash out on their own just like Naruto did almost three years ago.

So…that was something Naruto could cross off his to do list. In fact, a lot of things were already crossed off. He was almost done with April's last requests, or at least the ones that Naruto felt he could do. There was only one more thing he needed to do. One more message that he had to give.

Feeling the train come to a stop, Naruto put April's will away. It seems that he arrived to his destination. Exiting the train, Naruto stepped out into the famous city of Magnolia. He had saved this for last. After this, he was done.

It was time to meet Fairy Tail.

* * *

><p>"Did you hear what Fairy Tail did?"<p>

"Yeah, they're a wild bunch, huh? They keep causing property damage and stepping on the Council's toes."

"At least they keep things interesting."

Walking through the bustling city, Naruto kept his ears open. People often gave away information to him without even realizing it. After all, Naruto had honed senses that were far above a normal humans. He could hear that conversation from far down the street.

This wasn't news to him, though. Everyone knew that Fairy Tail had a habit of being destructive. People always complained about it, and Naruto could kind of see why. If someone destroyed April's home, Naruto would either beat that person within an inch of his or her life…or kill them. It depends if Naruto thought if he could get away with it. It wouldn't be smart to go on a rampage that got him labeled a dark mage.

On the other hand, it was just stuff that people were complaining about. They didn't seem to have the ties to the objects like Naruto did. They just liked their money and stuff. So, Naruto didn't really sympathize with them. Without memories, stuff meant nothing other than monetary value. It wasn't like Fairy Tail was hurting people physically after all.

"Hey…What's with that kid?"

"Why he's dressed like that? How does he even see?"

"Is he a wizard? He looks weird enough to be one."

That was something Naruto heard a lot. When he started traveling again, Naruto began to wear ANBU armor over his chest and forearms again. They were over his long sleeved navy shirt. Over his black pants were the various pouches and holsters on his belt and legs. This way he wouldn't have to uses containment seals or his Requip space for his kunai and shuriken.

Unlike most shinobi, Naruto didn't wear sandals. He preferred something that would protect his toes a little bit. Getting your toe cut off in battle tended to be distracting. Naruto knew that because he used that trick all the time back in his days in Root. Thus, he went with steel toed boots. No need to lose a toe after all…

What confused most people was the headband, though. The metal of the headband had the Uzumaki spiral on it. The black cloth of the headband was pulled down enough to cover most of Naruto's eyes. He could still see a bit, but no one could see his eyes without being completely below the teen. This way, no one would freak out over his demonic eyes. Of course, he could just squint, but that was annoying…

Crash! Crack!

…Of course, there were down sides to the headband thing too. Sometimes, Naruto accidentally bumped into stuff. That was another reason the boots were good. They prevented a lot of stubbed toes.

"What!?" The fruit stand owner gasped. "You broke my stand! All my fruit is ruined!"

"My apologies." Naruto did a respectful bow.

"I don't want your apologies! I want you to pay for all this!" The stand owner cried.

"Unfortunately, I will not do that." Naruto came up from his bow.

"The hell you won't!" The stand owner exclaimed.

"I need my money to buy things later." Naruto argued.

"And I need money to support my family!" The stand owner was getting red in the face.

"Well, maybe you should think about that next time before you put your stand in the middle of the busy street." Naruto suggest.

"I'm at the side of the road just like every other stand!" The man looked like he was about to pop a vein.

"Then how come I hit this stand and none of the other ones?" Naruto questioned. "This stand must have been further out than the others. It was a tripping hazard. You're luckily I'm not injured."

"Please! Your foot hit my table's leg and caused it to explode!" The man shouted. "You must be using magic to make your body stronger!"

"You are incorrect. My foot is just stronger than your stand was." Naruto shrugged. "Once again, I apologize. Good day."

"No! Don't go anywhere! Hey, someone call the cops or something!" The stand owner turned away for a split second to address the other people. He turned back to where Naruto was. "I'll make you pay one way or…Where'd he go?"

Naruto was gone.

"Damn it!"

* * *

><p>"Gildarts-ojjisan!" Fu exclaimed as the man walked into the guild hall. The mint haired girl wore a bright yellow shirt with a smiley face on the front and blue shorts.<p>

"Damn it, brat! I'm not that old!" Gildarts grumbled.

When the ace of Fairy Tail walked into the guild hall, everyone cheered and greeted him. This was a common occurrence when the orange haired man returned. He was often away on missions, so it was a rare occasion to see him. Everyone was glad to see him, but the children of the guild were especially excited to see their goal and role model.

"You look pretty damn old to me…" Gray, a youth around Fu's age noted. He had spikey black hair, blue eyes, and had the odd tendency to randomly strip off his clothes.

"Gray…" Cana sighed. This card mage girl had brown hair and eyes. "Your shirt is gone."

"Not again!" Gray began to frantically search for his missing shirt.

"Hey, Gildarts-ojjisan!" Fu bounced up to the man. "How was your job?"

"Pretty sucky…" Gildarts sighed. "I looked in that desert for that demon everyone's talking about, but I couldn't find it. I think it's smart enough not to challenge people that are a threat to it…But let's forget about that. What happened while I was gone?"

"We got a new guild member! She's about my age and is pretty tough!"

"Really?" Gildarts grinned at the mint haired girl. "Tougher than you?"

"She wishes!" Fu puffed out her cheeks. "Hey, Erza! Get over here!"

"Huh…Oh, right…" The red haired girl lifted her head a bit from her table. Oddly enough, she seemed to wear armor over her white blouse and blue skirt. Her brown eyes showed caution at the strange man.

"Erza, this is the old man! Old man, this is Erza Scarlet!" Fu gestered to both of them.

Gildarts bopped Fu gently on the head. "Not old, and it's nice to meet you, Erza."

"Yes, it's a pleasure to meet you as well." Erza bowed her head. "I have heard a lot about you."

"Eh? A brat with actual respect? That's rare!" Gildarts laughed.

"She's kind of new." Fu stated. "That's why she hasn't shown a lot of her weirdness yet. My guess is that she's the strict type of person, though."

"Oh? We might need one of those to keep us all in line." Gildarts ruffled Erza's hair, much to her annoyance.

"Y-yes!" Erza glared at him. "You cause far too much destruction! The town even had to be modified so you could get through it without any destruction, right?"

"Hahahahahahahahahaha! Yeah! It sure as hell cost less than repairing all the buidings I destroy!" Gildarts broke out laughing.

"Is that what that large pathway was for? I was wondering why the whole city shifted when I got close to this place."

"Yeah, kid. It confuses a lot of tourists and newbies like you…" Gildarts blinked. "Wait…Is there another new kid besides Erza?"

"Nope." Fu shook her head.

Gildarts stepped to the side and looked to the person that was behind him. It was a strange blond haired boy wearing a headband that covered his eyes almost completely.

"Hello." He greeted.

"Hiya!" Fu waved over to the new boy. "Are you here to join the guild?"

"…I have to speak with Master Dreyar. I have a message to him and the rest of the guild from April Kazen."

"April?" Gildarts tilted his head. "Wait…You're her brat! The kid she decided to train!"

"I am. My name is Naruto Uzumaki."

"Wow. Does that means April's back in town?" Gildarts smiled at the thought of meeting his old friend again.

"No…I should probably explain this to everyone at once. It will be better that way." Naruto mentioned.

"Alright." Gildarts looked to the bar. Makarov wasn't there. "Hey Macao, is the Master in his office?"

"Yeah, I'll go get him." A man with slicked back dark blue hair got up and headed to the back of the guild hall.

"Thank you. This won't take…" Naruto paused when he saw the two girls who was with them staring. "Is there a problem?"

"You're wearing armor…" Erza noted. She never saw another child around her age wear armor.

"I am." Naruto nodded. "Is that a problem?"

"No…it's just strange, or so I've heard." Erza frowned and looked away.

"Hmm…And you? Is there something wrong?" Naruto questioned.

Fu paused and listened to a voice in her head. '**Be careful, Fu-girl. That boy is a jinchūriki like you. He contains the Kyūbi.**'

Fu smiled. "Of course not, Number 9. My name is Fu."

'**Kit, she contains one of my weaker siblings.**' Kurama mentioned.

'Which one?'

'**Meh…It doesn't really matter, but she has Chōmei in her. The annoying bug always going on and on about luck. The only reason he does that, though, is because he's so weak he has to rely on luck.**' Kurama chuckled.

'But Chōmei has seven tails, right? That's pretty powerful.'

'**Not compared to me.**'

"I see…" Naruto stated cautiously. "It's a pleasure, Number 7."

This left the rest of the guild stumped. Why where they calling each other by numbers? How odd…

* * *

><p>"So you're April's apprentice, huh?" Makarov Dreyar was a very short thing man. In order to even be able to look Naruto in the eyes on even level, the master has to sit on the bar. He was very visibly going bald and growing old. Despite this, he was still one of the most powerful mages in the country. Even April, Bluenote, and Gildarts probably wouldn't win in a one-on-one fight.<p>

"I am, Master Dreyar." Naruto bowed respectfully.

"Master…Dreyar…Hahahahahahahahahaha!" Makarov burst out laughing. "A brat with actual respect!? And from April!? That's hilarious!"

"Well…to be fair, April was pretty polite to everyone but you and me…" Gildarts rubbed the back of his head.

"For good reason!" Makarov held up his beer and cheered. He was copied by the rest of the guild. He took a big swig of the alcohol. "Ahh…Now, tell me…How is that brat of mine doing?"

"I…" Naruto had told this to so many people before. Nevertheless, it never got easier to admit that someone you loved so dearly was gone. "I…"

"You okay, gaki?" Makarov raised an eyebrow. "Cat got your tongue?"

"…Kaa…April-sensei has sent me here with a message." Naruto felt his throat go dry.

"Oh? Is she finally moving back here?!" Makarov smiled.

"No…No, she's…" Naruto took a deep breath. "She's dead."

Silence.

Everyone was staring at him. Their looks were that of shock and disbelief at how he could even consider thinking about saying that sentence. The oldest members were frozen in shock. Makarov even dropped his mug. It shattered on the floor with a crash.

"You…" Gildarts grabbed Naruto's shoulder and glared down at him. "How dare you even joke about that…"

"I'm not joking. I buried my sensei myself. She's gone." Naruto turned to the large man. The teen had his hands behind his back.

"April's…dead?" Macao looked extremely pale.

"That…That shouldn't be possible." The blond man beside Macao looked ready to drop to the floor.

"I apologize for having to deliver this last message of hers." Naruto spoke to the guild. "She wanted you to know that she never stopped loving this guild."

"How could you…" Gildarts was ready to snap the boy in half. Either this was a cruel joke, or the kid was treating April's death like it was nothing. The cloaked man paused, however. Unlike the rest of the guild besides Makarov, the ace of Fairy Tail could see the boy's hands, even if it was just a little bit.

Naruto's hands were trembling as he stood before them. His face was blank, and his eyes were hidden; but the boy could not hold back the grief completely.

"…I'm sorry…Naruto, was it? That you had to deliver such a terrible message." Makarov eyed the boy in pity. "Now tell me….**Who would dare to kill one of my brats?**"

Naruto rarely felt fear. He faced Kurama on a daily basis and trained with April after all. When Makarov's voice growled that sentence out in absolute anger, the teen couldn't fight back the shiver that went up his spine. This was not the man to pick a fight with. "It all happened when the cult of Zeref attacked the town near our home."

Erza had to fight back a gasp. She clenched the beside her table in anger.

"But they were not the ones to kill her." Naruto stated. "No, the man that took April from this world was Bluenote Stinger."

"Bluenote Stinger…" Gildarts gave Makarov a side glance. "That's the man that…"

"Yes." Makarov sighed. "It would be hard for anyone to find him. He has a good ability to stay hidden."

"Hey!" Macao jumped to his feet. "If April really died like that…Why wasn't there an announcement or something?"

"I believe that the Magic Council wished to conceal the incident. They don't like people knowing that they are not all powerful." Naruto shrugged. "Besides…I think they fear anything that involves Zeref to the point that they will do anything to make it disappear. Even to the point of ignoring the facts."

"Damn it…April deserve better than that." Gildarts growled. "To be pushed aside and forgotten by the Magic Council."

"My sensei will never be forgotten. I will not let that happen." Naruto frowned at them.

"…Yeah…" Makarov looked around the guild hall. He noted the somber mood now. The master of Fairy Tail didn't want to make this worse right now, so he leaned forward and whispered. "Naruto, I think we should discuss the rest in private."

Naruto nodded. That would definitely be best…

* * *

><p>"So…" Makarov sighed as he sat at his desk. "I'm guessing that there's more to this?"<p>

"Yes." Naruto nodded.

"Hey, brat…" Gildarts eyed the boy as the older man leaned against the wall. "Why did you wait so long to come here and tell us? You did say that this happened a long time ago."

"I had to follow April's will. She left instructions for me." Naruto explained. "I had to tell everyone that cared about this. I…kind of procrastinated with this last message. I spent a lot of time avoiding coming here…"

"Hey…" Macao was sitting on a couch nearby. "It's alright, kid."

"Yeah…" Wakaba Mine blew out smoke from his cigarette. "It must have been hard on you."

Makarov allowed the most veteran mages in the guild to come to this meeting. They were the ones that knew April the best, and they deserved to know everything that happened. Naruto did not protest. He heard good things about them from April.

"No…It was my weakness and stubbornness." Naruto sighed. "I spent a lot of time investigating into those people who attack the town. I was close to finding a way to track the cultists down…but it turns out that created their own downfall."

"Yes…Erza told us about that…" Makarov nodded. "Don't be surprised if she comes to talk with you."

Naruto nodded.

"What were you even doing trying to track them down?" Gildarts questioned. "Did you want revenge?"

"Yes. I planned to brutally kill all of them." Naruto stated without hesitation.

"Damn…Don't talk like that, kid." Macao shuddered at the coldness.

"Kid, even if you did track them down, I doubt you could have done anything to them." Wakaba mentioned.

"No, I think that you could back up your words…" Makarov stared at the boy. He examined him closely. The master of Fairy Tail sensed great power from him. It was a familiar power. "I see…You learned from April's research, huh? You learned Sky God Slayer Magic."

"I did." Naruto lifted his hand and revealed the swirling black wind surrounding it.

"You did, but not even April…" Gildarts's jaw dropped at the sight.

"I see…" Makarov frowned at the boy. "And is that they way April would have wanted you to use the power she taught you? To kill and to ruin lives?"

"No, she wouldn't." Naruto admitted. "But I don't care. This is my life, and I get to choose how I live it. That is my right."

"True…" Makarov nodded. "But I don't think you're the type to forget your teacher's instructions."

"You're right…I will never forget her words." Naruto frowned in though. He would never forget Apirl's last physical words to him, or the letter that she left him in her will. "That is why I am even here. She wanted me to join the guild."

"I see…Then, I'll go ahead and ask you," Makarov smiled at the boy. "Do you want to join Fairy Tail?"

"…No." Naruto shook his head.

"What?" Gildarts blinked. "But I thought…"

"April did want me to join the guild. It was one of her last wishes, but I can't do it. I will not fit in here." Naruto shook his head. "I have a complicated past, and I'm sure that I'll have an even more complicated future. I will be forced to do things that no legal mage should do. If I stay here, I will only drag Fairy Tail's name through the mud. I cannot not do that to the guild that Kaa-san loved so much."

None of the older men in the room missed what Naruto called April. They decided not to comment on it.

"You're not going to join a dark guild, are you?" Macao asked in caution.

"No." Naruto shook his head. "I will not join that scum. I will be an independent mage. I will work in the gray area in order to accomplish my goals."

"And those are?" Gildarts questioned.

"I have two dreams in my life. One…I will obtain absolute freedom to the point that I can be compared to the sky. The second…" Naruto lifted up his headband. "I will destroy everyone and everything related to Zeref."

They all stared in shock at his demonic eyes.

"Thank you for listening to me, Master Dreyer." Naruto lowered his headband and turned away from them. "Though I may not be a wizard of this guild, I shall always be its ally because it is the precious guild that Kaa-san loved so much."

With that, Naruto walked out of the office and back to the guild.

* * *

><p>"You okay, Gray?" Cana questioned.<p>

"Eh?" The stopped staring off into space and turned to her. "Yeah…I'm fine."

"Oh…You just look distracted."

"I guess…" Gray looked away. He could sympathize with that Naruto kid. Losing your teacher like that…It didn't feel good. Despite the blond's cool headed appearance, Gray was sure the guy was hurting on the inside.

"Well…" Cana looked over to Erza and Fu. They were both looking off into space as well. "You're not the only one."

The guild was unusually quiet. That was understandable. It wasn't often that they lost a member like this. Even the kids felt sad, though they never got to meet the woman. They heard stories, of course, but they would have liked to meet her at least once.

It was then that the door to the back opened. Everyone turned to see Naruto enter the guild hall. He passed by all of them and head towards the door. The boy didn't stop to look at them for even a passing glance.

"Hey…" Cana said to the boy as he grew close to their table. "Do you want to join us? I can read your fortune."

"No, I don't." Naruto walked by their table and kept going. "Goodbye."

"Hey!" Cana glared at the boy.

He did not stop.

"HEY!" Cana grabbed an empty bottle and threw it at the boy.

The bottle flew at the back of his head. At the last possible second, Narut turned around and caught the bottle like it was nothing. He then placed it on a nearby table. "What?"

"Wha? How did you catch that while you're blindfolded?" Cana questioned.

"I am a trained shinobi. I am a master of stealth and grace. Even if I can't see completely, my battle skill will not allow a sneak attack to get to me." Naruto turned and began to walk away.

Crash!

Naurto tripped over a chair and destroyed it.

"…Although I do tend to trip over stuff when I am not in danger…" Naruto mentioned. He pushed himself up and bowed to the room. "I apologize for breaking your chair. Next time, you should not put it in my way."

"Don't act like it's our fault!" Cana exclaimed.

"My apologies again." Naruto came up from his bow and turned to leave once again. He made it out the door before he felt someone grabbed him.

"Wait." Erza spoke to him.

"Yes?" Naruto questioned. The other children came with her. They all stood outside the guild as the doors closed behind them.

"…" Erza stared at him as she released his arm. "Are you not going to join the guild?"

"No. I have goals that I need to accomplish. Being a part of this guild will only limit the freedom and time I have to accomplish those goals." Naruto answered.

"And those goals… Do they have to do with the cult of Zeref?" Erza questioned.

"They do." Naruto nodded.

"…Don't let revenge cloud your mind." Erza warned. "I don't want to see more people fall into madness because of Zeref."

"Do not worry. I will not let myself fall too far into the darkness." Naruto mentioned with a nod.

"…You sure you don't want to stay?" Gray questioned. "From what I've seen, you seem to be weird enough to fit in, and I'm sure that it would help you after…what happened."

Naruto got the feeling that these children were speaking from personal experience in these matters. April did say that Fairy Tail was a guild that accepted people even if they had darker pasts and personal issues. That was probably why April wanted him to join the guild. It would be good for him. Even Naruto knew that.

For the briefest of moments, Naruto considered joining the guild. It was one of April's last requests after all, and these children…they had pain themselves. They could understand Naruto a little. He quickly dismissed the thought, however. This was not the choice he decided on. His path was not one bathed in light.

"No." Naruto shook his head. "I don't think that's a good idea. I am not looking for the opportunity to find peace. I am not looking to heal or to find comrades. All I want…is to fulfill my responsibilities."

"Responsibilities, huh?" Fu blinked at that. "Well…that sounds like something I can respect, Number 9."

"It actually sounded pretty manly…" Cana snorted.

"Still…Be careful." Erza warned. "I don't think that the path your choosing is one filled with honor and nobility. It is not the path an armor wearing knight should walk."

"It isn't." Naruto shook his head. "But I'm not a knight. I'm a shinobi. I work best from the shadows where no one can find me."

"…_remember to smile more…_" April's rang through his head.

Naruto gave them a smile. It was a charming smile that instantly made the other children feel better. It was also completely fake, though. "Thank you for your concerns, though. If you'll excuse me, I'll be off. I have a lot I need to do."

Naruto gave them a small bow and began to walk off.

"Hey, wait!" Fu called out.

Naruto paused.

"Have you met…any of the other numbers?" Fu questioned. "I just...I wonder what they're like.

"I have not." Naruto called back. "But I plan to."

With that he was off.

"Numbers?" Cana questioned the mint haired girl. "What does that mean?"

"It's an inside joke." Fu shrugged.

"You just met him half an hour ago! How do you have an inside joke?!"

* * *

><p>As he began his trek out of Magnolia, Naruto peered down at the letter in his hands. April had written it for him in case her illness took her early. His heart ached at that though. He never got the chance to keep his promise and heal her of her illness. Even if he had his Sky God Slayer magic now, it was useless to heal a dead person.<p>

Promise of a lifetime…What a joke…

'I'm sorry, Kaa-san.' Naruto thought. 'I'm probably such a disappointment already. I have broken two promises already. I never got to heal you, and I refused to join your guild…'

Sick of the ache in his chest, Naruto began to read the letter. It always made him feel better.

_Dear Naruto,_

_If you're reading this, then that means I have passed away. I don't want that to happen and to leave you alone, but sometimes life isn't fair enough to let us spend enough time with the people we love. So, I just want to say that I love you so much. You're the son I never had. Please remember that._

_In my will, I have left you everything I own. My only request is that you follow the instructions I left in it for you. Especially the part about joining Fairy Tail. The guild will be good for you. You need it._

_Unfortunately, I know that you probably won't do as I ask. You most likely will do what you want, and I accept that. Only you will know what will make you happy in life. I just ask you to be careful with your choices. Remember that there are always reasons why things are forbidden._

_I know that your life has never been an easy one. I tried my best to make it better for you, but I doubt that things will get any easier for you. Remain strong and hold fast, Naruto. Remember what I taught you and continue to hone your skills. I'm sure that you're the one that is meant to be Azura's god slayer._

_Also remember to enjoy life, though. Life isn't just about training and fighting. Life is about the people we care for and the dreams we work to fulfill. Don't lose sight of what you care about. If you always keep your sight on that, then you will always keep on the right path even if you stumble a bit._

_Don't forget that, and…remember to smile more. You look so much better when you smile. Eat for both fitness and pleasure. Ramen is the food of the gods after all. And remember what you are responsible for. Finish what you start and always be able to live with the consequences of your actions._

_Goodbye, Naruto. I love you so much._

_April Kazen_

"Hey, Naruto."

Naruto paused in his reading. He quickly put the letter back in his Requip space. Turning, the teen greeted the man who addressed him. "Master Dreyar…Why are you here?"

"I wished to speak with you before you left." Makarov approached the young man.

"I told you that I will not join your guild." Naruto mentioned.

"I know, and I respect your choice." Makarov nodded. "But I needed to talk to you a bit more before you left."

"Eh…What is it?" Naruto questioned.

"April lost her family when she was very young." Makarov explained with tears in his eyes. "Her father was a dear friend of mine, and I was her godfather, so I ended up raising her. She's a daughter to me in every way that matters. Thus, in a way, you are like a grandchild to me."

"I'm not going to start calling you Ojii-san." Naruto stated firmly.

"I figured you wouldn't." Makarov barked out a laugh. "But I do care what happens to you. I know you said that you would always be an ally to my guild, so in return, I offer you this. My offer to join the guild will always be open. If you ever change your mind, I will be here waiting."

"…Thank you. That means a lot." Naruto nodded.

"Also, can you indulge an old man and send a letter to two from time to time?" Makarov mentioned as he wiped the tears that were running down his face. "I would like to get to know my new grandson a bit more. Even if you do have those strange eyes."

"Sure." Naruto nodded. He turned to the horizon. The sun was now setting. The red orange glow washed over the two mages and the city behind them. "I'm sure that's what Kaa-san would have wanted me to do that."

"And you know I have to ask this…" Makarov eyed the teen. "What do you plan to do now? You aren't near strong enough to fight Bluenote or any dark guild related to Zeref."

"I know." Naruto nodded. "That's why I'm going to hone my skills. One day, I will actually have the power to slay gods. That's a promise. But until that day…there are a few things that I'm responsible for that I need to take care of."

"And that is?"

Naruto paused and looked up to the sky. "I have found one of my kin here. They are here because of me. I should find the other seven and make sure they don't bring an end to this world. That is my responsibility."

"As…So you are like Fu." Makarov nodded. "That explains the eyes. I have kept my ears open for the other jinchūriki that she mentioned. I think a few of them joined the guilds my old teammates started."

"Yes…But those ones are under control. It is the chaotic ones that I need to be concerned about." Naruto mentioned. "And recently…I have been hearing rumors about a desert demon killing civilians and weaker mages. It also seems smart enough to avoid those that pose an actual threat."

"Ah yes…Gildarts went to look for that demon." Makarov stroked his chin. "I don't think he showed himself. Do you think it's a jinchūriki?"

"Maybe…or maybe he's a demon of Zeref." Naruto stated. "Either way…I think I'll pay that demon a visit and find out just how strong it is."

"Are you sure? Either you're strong enough that he'll avoid you, or you're weak enough to be his prey." Makarov mentioned.

"I'm strong enough to beat the demon." Naruto said this with certaintiy.

"Then how do you plan to draw it out?"

"By using a talent I share with the demon sealed within me." Naruto gave him a charming smile that Makarov could tell was fake. "The ability to piss people off without even trying."

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><p><strong>Thank you all for reading and please remember to…<strong>

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